Pisa, 17–19 December 2025

The international conference The Awakening of Enceladus marks a key stage of the PRISMA – Pondering Risk and Imagining Resilience: A Digital Atlas of Seismic and Volcanic Events in Literature project, winner of the Return cascade call for Spoke 3-VS3 “Earthquakes and Volcanoes” and coordinated by Prof. Biancamaria Rizzardi (University of Pisa). The project is devoted to the digital mapping of seismic and volcanic events in literature, and to fostering reflection on risk and resilience.

The event offers a transdisciplinary dialogue on geological risk, memory, and disaster narratives, integrating scientific, humanistic and artistic perspectives to promote a critical awareness of contemporary environmental and cultural risks.

The programme includes meetings with writers and artists, three keynote lectures, and six thematic sessions—Gaia, Prometheus, Mnemosyne, Typhon, Atlas, Hephaestus—addressing catastrophic phenomena in their symbolic, social, linguistic, and scientific dimensions. The digital atlas L.A.V.A. – Literary Atlas of Volcanic and seismic Activities will also be presented.

Keynote lectures: David Alexander (UCL), Frank Westerman (writer and journalist), Isak Winkel Holm (University of Copenhagen).
Meetings with writers: Elleke Boehmer (University of Oxford), Esther Kinsky (Kleist Prize 2022).
Lecture-performance: “Sono una frana” by Matteo Belli.

Scientific Committee: Biancamaria Rizzardi, Stefano Brugnolo, Fausto Ciompi, Marina Foschi, Michela Lazzeroni, Carlo Tirinanzi De Medici.
Organizing Committee: Elena Bastianoni, Silvy Boccaletti, Chiara Cernicchiaro, Francesco De Sorbo, Sofia Mangiaterra, Benedetta Rosi, Valérie Tosi.

Contacts: prismaconference@fileli.unipi.it

Venues:
17 December – Aula Magna Storica, University of Pisa, Palazzo della Sapienza
18–19 December – Auditohttps://u.garr.it/vWcOBrium of Palazzo Blu, Pisa

It is possible to follow the conference LIVE via streaming here or using the QR code below.

Programme

Book of Abstract

Participants, scientific and organizing committees

The P.R.I.S.M.A. Project

Venue, information, and contacts