Fantasy writers for Open Arms, 'Mari Aperti' is born

The myth, the imagination, the allegory, the metaphor, the symbol. All this is Fantasy, a literary genre that is too underestimated in Italy. But these characteristics also apply to the sea which claims, however, the primacy of another extraordinary concept: solidarity. Thus was born the first anthology of the solidarity narrative project Senza Confine, the proceeds of which are destined to support the activities of the NGO Open Arms. It is called 'Mari Aperti' and contains 9 short stories and 1 essay written by the major Italian Fantasy authors. The stories are accompanied by original illustrations. The idea of ​​this solidarity volume is by Maikel Maryn, who - in addition to writing 'Mare Inferum' for the anthology - together with Andrea Marinucci Foa edited the volume. "The idea came to me last year by observing the disaster that was happening in the Mediterranean due to intolerable immigration policies, both Italian and European. The ballet of responsibility done on the skin of people left for days and days in the middle of the sea it was something that made me feel ashamed as a human being and so I wondered what I could do to change things. The only thing I can do is write and then it occurred to me to be able to raise funds for those who intervene directly in certain situations "According to Marinucci" it is not difficult to 'marry' the fantasy content with the concept of solidarity if we look at the history of fantasy beyond the stereotypes with which unfortunately it is known to us. From the Lord of the Rings, the fantastic genre places the emphasis on collaboration in the face of adversity and empathy is a characteristic that pervades the characters. Even the "bad guys" somehow deserve an attempt at salvation, as happens to G ollum. In short, in fantasy there is also a spirit of solidarity. It is one of the reasons that prompted us to focus on the fantastic, to show one of the faces of our favorite genre that is relatively little talked about. "This anthology is an important project, dedicated to an important cause." It took us exactly one year to create this anthology, - said Maryn - partly because we had to learn to manage all the processing stages and the people involved, partly because there was that little matter of the global pandemic that upset us a little " but, adds Marinucci, "it is very likely that it will have a following, the editorial staff that it has built has represented a very important moment of personal growth. Friendships have been created that push me to invent something else. The digital version of 'Mari Aperti' is available with a donation on the Produzioni dal Basso crowdfunding platform and on e-commerce platforms.