‘Cosma, the indigo child’ is the title of Renzo Conti’s novel, which will be presented on Friday 21 March 2025 at 5.30 p.m. in the evocative Fumagalli-Martorana hall of Villa Butera.
The event will see the institutional greetings of the Mayor of Bagheria, Filippo Maria Tripoli, and will be introduced by the Deputy Mayor, Daniele Vella. Discussing with the author will be poet Giuseppe Di Salvo and professor Giovanni Melazzo. Reading excerpts from the novel will be Gregorio Cascavilla.
‘Cosma, the indigo child’ is a novel that tells the story of how Cosma’s activism, in favour of the rights of all and in particular of minorities, develops from a complex area of the Sicilian hinterland to the city of Palermo.’
SYNOPSIS. Cosma, the protagonist of this novel, has a story to tell from his birth, which characterises him as an indigo child, but also for his commitment to social and political causes that will become central to his existence. His activism for the rights of all and especially of minorities will extend from a complex area of the Sicilian hinterland to the city of Palermo. Cosma will tread his own path, between poetry and theatre, together with a group of special friends and a doll, who will always be at his side. Their lives will be enriched by unconventional experiences, such as swinging, prostitution, BDSM, and by encounters that will be fundamental to their evolution; but Cosma and his friends will also have to come up against the prejudice of those who think that their mode of relationship is scandalous and to be held in contempt. However, for those who will learn to appreciate him, Cosma will be like the corolla of a flower that, until the end of his earthly experience, cut short by AIDS at a time when no cures existed, will metaphorically scatter variegated petals that will colour with imagination, culture and creativity those who will remain beside him.
Author Biography – Renzo Conti is an engineer and writer from Palermo, a lgbtqia+ activist, anti-speciesist and founder of the animal association ‘Happy in the Tail’. His first novel, I figli in prestito (Borrowed children), published by Edizioni Ex Libris in 2017, was awarded for its delicate subject matter during the 4th Edition of the ‘Premio Sicilia Letteraria – Palermo capitale italiana della cultura 2018’. Since 2018, he has been a member of F.U.I.S. (Federazione Unitaria Italiana Scrittori). In March 2021, following the publication of his novel Il volto delle streghe (The face of witches), published by Edizioni Ex Libris in 2019, the City of Palermo decided to name the new veterinary health centre after former mayor Giuseppe Insalaco. January 2022 saw the publication of the novel Cuncuma – Nel voler esprimere la singolarità, published once again by Edizioni Ex Libris, dedicated to the memory of Giuseppe Di Matteo; and in May of the same year, he was awarded the Tessera Preziosa del Mosaico, one of the most important recognitions of the City of Palermo, for having given, through his books, new memory to former mayor Giuseppe Insalaco and new light to Giuseppe Di Matteo, recounting a mysterious, esoteric and legendary Palermo.