(February 2, 2017) At Marikana, South Africa, in August of 2012 the police opened fire on a group of miners in protest: 34 people were killed in the turmoil. The tragic events are recounted in “Marikana. South Africa and the end of the rainbow dream “, book edited by Raphel D’Abdon (published by Aviani & Aviani, Udine 2015) that will be presented next February 8 (at 18) at the headquarters of the Dante Alighieri Society in Johannesburg (n. 62, Houghton Drive, Johannesburg). The event is organized by the Italian Institute of Culture in Pretoria in collaboration with the Dante Alighieri Society in Johannesburg. The presentation of the book provides for the intervention of some of the poets who have contributed to the book and who will read their poems. Besides Raphael Abdon, poet, editor and translator of the volume and Anna Amendolagine, director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Pretoria, have guaranteed their participation: Sarah Godsell, historical and poet and Heidi Henning, writer and poet, both from Johannesburg; Philippa Yaa de Villiers, South African poet and playwright and finally the Italian Laura Visentin, from the non-profit organization Time for Africa, which is to present the cooperation project to support the Marikana communities. Raphel D’Abdon is an Unisa academic and Italian writer who since 2008 has lived and worked in South Africa. In the book he edited, first published in English under the title “Marikana. A Moment in Time” in 2013, and now translated into Italian, collects poems, short stories, articles and essays on the tragic events that happened in Marikana: the book raises some questions about what happened in the Marikana massacre and what this event has meant and will mean for the so-called “Rainbow Nation”. The volume contains 34 texts, written by 30 authors from five countries (South Africa, Lesotho, Italy, Kenya, United States). All proceeds from book sales are donated to the Combined School, one of the two primary schools of the Marikana community in which study many boys and girls who have lost relatives and / or friends in the massacre.
