Pozzallo – Seeking the Sea but Finding Sicilian Literature

On a recent visit to the southern coast of Sicily, I stayed in Pozzallo, a town on the  Mediterranean coast.  Upon arrival in Pozzallo, I visited different spots of the coastline and enjoyed a mid-day walk along the beach.  After checking in at the B&B, Mare Nostrum, where I would spend the night, I was surprised to find that each of the rooms was named after a Sicilian writer.  As I arrived to my room, I was pleased to realize I had been assigned the room named after Giovanni Verga. 

Verga belonged to the realismo  (realist) school of writing and described  the customs of the southern society, the struggles and limitations placed upon the characters of his stories by the rules of the society in which they lived.  He described, in an objective manner, the southern reality of the final part of the 1800’s, the times after the unification of Italy.  Giovanni Verga’s stories were all set in Sicily, in towns not far from my hometown, Catania.

As I setttled in my room, I noticed that the words written on the headboard were an excerpt from one of Verga’s short stories, This short story, “Beyond the Sea,” is part of a collection of short stories, the Rustic Stories.  There is a dual language book of Sicilian Stories published by Dover Publications, Inc. which contains the Rustic Stories. 

Before departing Pozzallo,  I walked to the beach close to the B&B.  There I saw, for the first time this year, the swallows flying above.  They were back as Spring had arrived.