Book presentation Lorenzo Castore, Glitter Blues BLOW UP PRESS

“I can’t even count the number of years I’ve spent on this doorstep, and it’s even more difficult for me to imagine the number of men who have crossed it.
It seems like yesterday, when – my fate still uncertain, not so my beauty as a young woman – I first came to this isolated house, in search of a future. It may seem strange to try to define your own life based on what others keep concealed. And yet, centring my existence around theirs was the only way my life could possibly take shape and become real. […]”
Francesco / Franchina Grasso

“I returned to Catania after many years in 2004, when I was invited by a dear friend, who also suggested I visit the infamous San Berillo district during my walks.
 
San Berillo is a small neighbourhood, central but unquestionably marginalised, found between Corso Sicilia and the Teatro Bellini. It has always been home to the city’s prostitutes (both transvestites and women, mainly South Americans). More recently, African immigrants have occupied the ground floors of its old, crumbling buildings.
 
The way the district is set within the city makes it seem like a separate territory, an island with no sea around it or a castle with no fortifications.[…]

 From 2015 until the end of 2019, I visited Catania regularly, almost obsessively: four times a year, once in each season. Spending time together became a habit for us. After Franchina, Cioccolatina and Lulù, I met Ramona, Brigida, Ornella, Monica the Viking, Fiorella, Rosa, Ambra, Graziella and others whose names I won’t mention because they prefer to remain anonymous, or because my acquaintance with them is not deep enough. They are all Sicilian and all transvestites, apart from a couple of biological women who have become part of the group.[…]
 Lorenzo Castore