意大利: The Lake's Water Is Never Sweet

The smell of algae and sand, of wet feathers. An ancient crater, now filled with water: on the shores of Lake Bracciano arrives, fleeing the indifference of Rome, Antonia’s family—Antonia, a courageous mother with a disabled husband and four children. Honest to the point of ferocity, she believes in the common good, yet wants to teach her daughter to expect nothing from others. And Gaia learns: not to complain, to dive into the lake even when the currents pull her downward, to read books instead of watching television, to hide her mobile phone in a shoebox and her unhappiness where no one can see it. But then, when the lake’s water seems sweeter and brighter, an unpredictable force springs from this young girl’s hands. Faced with injustice, Gaia responds with violence, carrying out her revenge with the determination of a mute deity. Her voice accompanies us through a youth that brushes against both drama and dream, posing searing questions. Her friends, her loves, her defiant gaze are destined to remain in our hearts, like the mysterious nativity scene on the bottom of the lake.

作者:

Giulia Caminito
Giulia Caminito is an Italian writer, born in Rome in 1988. She made her debut with La grande A (2016), followed by Un giorno verrà (2019), which was shortlisted for the Premio Strega. Her novel L’acqua del lago non è mai dolce (2021) won the Premio Campiello and established her as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Italian literature. Her writing often explores social inequality, family ties, and the tensions between place, class, and personal ambition.

朗讀者：

Elizabeth Chung
Elizabeth Chung Yi-Lei (or just “Lilli”) is a PhD Candidate at CUHK researching Hong Kong Literature, focussing on the relationship between community and contemporary literature. Both a critic and creative writer, her works have been published digitally and physically, and can be found in Where Else: An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology and The Signal House Edition, amongst others. Her most recent work is as primary editor of Peel Street Poetry 20th Anniversary Anthology, which will be launched during the 2026 HKILF. 

Chung is a co-organiser of the Hong Kong poetry groups Peel Street Poetry and OutLoudHK隨言香港, and a co-founder of the new literary group Flow State留言, which welcomes performances of any literature and aims to highlight original English and Cantonese writings from the city.
Online @chungyilei.
 

場地:

La Biblioteca Italian Library Hong Kong
H210, Block B, PMQ,35 Aberdeen St, Central