Florence dethrones Paris as the city of love this weekend. RARE (acronym for Romance Authors and Readers Events) Florence 2023, the event that brings together the top writers of domestic and foreign romance novels and their most loyal readers, will take place at the Fortezza da Basso next Friday, February 22, and Saturday, February 23.

Romance is a genre that accounts for about a 40% share of publishing sales in the Western world, and our lovely country is no exception. While it is sometimes dismissed as B-list literature in Italy, one of the genre’s earliest representatives, Jane Austen, has had one side of the 10-pound bill dedicated to her. A newly rekindled interest in the genre may bring more recognition to romance authors, and RARE is one of the occasions to applaud their work.

Romance genres

Romance boasts books of excellent artistic and technical quality, and others less so, like all thematic genres, including horror and crime stories,. The vast book production is divided into various subgenres, often referred to by their English designation. Based on the dynamics of relationships we find e.g. enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, fake relationships (relationships born in pretense that result in real love), etc.

In terms of setting we go from contemporary with additional sub-genres such as sports romance or office romance, to fantasy romance or paranormal romance (such as the well-known Twilight), to historical romance, particularly regency romance. In this respect, Netflix has successfully transposed the series “Bridgerton” by Julia Quinn who will be present at RARE and already has a line of fans waiting to meet her.

Authors you will meet at RARE Florence 2023

Historical romance, however, is not just regency (the early 1800s years marked by the regency of the Prince of Wales due to the irreversible madness of George III). Tess Thompson, who had her self-publishing debut in Italy two years ago and has sold thousands of books based on the amount of reviews on Amazon.it, is also present at RARE Florence 2023 with her novel “The school mistress of Emerson Pass,” which is set in 1910s Colorado. This novel did not fit the usual mold both in time setting and location and represented a publishing gamble – a gamble that, by all indications, more than paid off.

On Amazon.it some reviewers have called it a “Far West Sound of Music” and there is no doubt that some hint of the musical’s atmosphere can be found in the story of the young schoolteacher who leaves Boston to accept a teaching position for a newly built school in a former mining town where Lord Barnes, a handsome English widower with five children, tries to build a cohesive community, but clashes with the racial prejudices of the time and the evil that dwells in the souls of some of the inhabitants.

How to access the event

Tickets for the event have already almost sold out as early as last November. After all, it had been 4 years since RARE, also due to the pandemic, returned to Italy (the last stop was Rome in 2019, also at the end of September) and Italian fans were eager to meet their authors. Those who would like to try to get in can try to see if there are any last-minute waivers in the “rarette” (that’s what the participants call each other) facebook group “RARE Florence Attendees” – you will the “buy & sell” post pinned at the top.

Journalists, or editorial staffers who would like to review the event, can enter the event free of charge by showing their journalist’s badges. On Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the Cavaniglia Pavilion there will be a “Meet & Greet,” a foretaste of Saturday’s event where it will be possible to meet about half of the authors. All 180 authors will be busy signing autographs for the more than 1,800 readers in attendance the next day from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. at the Spadolini Pavilion.

I will be present myself at Tess Thompson’s table as translator of the best selling romance series “Emerson Pass” and look forward to meeting you in person. If you’d like to know how we managed to make this series a success and would like to get a quote, do not hesitate to contact us.