Letter to a girl from the future

“Become the world you would like in yourself.” This is the opening of Lettera a una ragazza del futuro (letter to a girl from the future), which Concita De Gregorio, one of the leading writers in Italian journalism today, dedicates to the girls of the future, addressing a girl from the past first of all, the girl she was herself. But since, as every young person knows, the advice of adults can often fall on deaf ears, this letter is intended as a place to find it when readers are seeking it, whatever stage of life they may be in. Sweet words, bitter words, raw words that the author accompanies with Mariachiara Di Giorgio’s delicate illustrations, oscillating between past and future, but always directing her gaze on the present. In just fifty-three pages, Concita De Gregorio has composed an ode to kindness towards oneself and towards others. With an intimate, almost maternal tone, she addresses the great universal themes, like love, friendship, career and the pursuit of happiness. All, ultimately, under one umbrella: be free of conditioning, “don’t let a role be your cage, what others expect of you”, “make sure you don’t need people with power, because only then will you be free”. And she concludes: make your own choices, always and to the end, but remember to start with kindness: “Be kind, and then do what you will.”  

Lettera a una ragazza del futuro
by Concita De Gregorio with illustrations by Mariachiara Di Giorgio
Feltrinelli, 2021