“The Woman with Wings” by Cira Celotto and Alberto Guarino, published by Giammarino Editore, will be presented to the press on Sunday 7 March at 11:00 am at the “Gelsomina Verde” Culture Workshop, in via Arcangelo Ghisleri lotto P, Scampia (Naples).
ISpeakers will include: Ciro Corona (president of (R)Esistenza Anticamorra), Gino Giammarino (Publisher), Maria Giovanna Fiume (president of the association “Donne a testa alta” and author of the book’s preface) as well as the two authors Cira Celotto and Alberto Guarino.
[Press release]
Cira Celotto's is the story of many women, of many people who, like her, find themselves in front of a mirror and struggle with an image they don't recognize, that they reject, but which, despite their efforts, they can't free themselves from. Their body becomes a cage, loneliness becomes a necessity and the primary impulse is to stop taking care of themselves and abandon themselves to sadness. And then feelings such as shame, a sense of inadequacy, fear, isolation, take hold more and more in a condition in which the mind sends messages to the body that the latter continues to painfully ignore. But Cira's is above all a story of resilience, of those who fall and get up again, it is the story of a woman who transforms suffering into courage, melancholy into a desire for redemption, and puts it at the service of others.
She had decided to harm herself, erasing her femininity and indulging in junk food until she reached a weight of 92 kg. She no longer had self-esteem, of her being a woman and of her identity. Locked in her house, she could no longer even wear pajamas. However, when she decided to start over, she had to face obstacles that seemed insurmountable. Only thanks to a great willpower was she able to abandon the body of the chrysalis and transform into a butterfly.
Cira, after having obtained her diploma at ASI (Italian Social Sports Association) teaches Fitness, Pilates, Aerobics, sports integration “Trampoline elastic” and takes care of Nutrition. “Having a job in these times and sports integration “Trampoline elastic”.
“In modern society – Cira has always maintained – having a job is a fortune but doing what you like is a miracle and I live by this miracle every day”.
Yes, because now Cira is the coach of 600 women, all from the Scampia district, in the northern area of Naples, who frequent the gym that she manages with her association “La ali di Scampia”, inside the Officina delle Culture “Gelsomina Verde”, a property confiscated from the Camorra and named after a girl barbarically murdered during a feud between rival clans.
The business started amidst the skepticism of many who were waiting for nothing but its failure, but one after another many wives, mothers, daughters, sisters and girlfriends have crossed the threshold of her gym and never abandoned it. “In the early days – Cira says – my students showed up at the gym wearing slippers, a clear sign that none of them felt love and respect, especially for themselves, but now they show up for training as if they had been to the hairdresser before”.
Now Cira tells this story in a book, “La Donna con le ali – una storia di cambiamento e di coraggio”, published by Giammarino Editore of Naples, co-written with Alberto Guarino. A work that inaugurates the editorial series (R)Esistenze, a project born thanks to the synergy created by the publishing house founded and led by Gino Giammarino and the anti-Camorra association (R)Esistenza presided over by the new knight of the Republic Ciro Corona.
The series will symbolize a jewel in the crown of Giammarino, first of all because it will allow to continue this active and positive collaboration with the territory of Scampia and the Officina delle Culture born a few months with the social economy project of the Cassa del Mezzogiorno and, secondly, because thanks to this editorial initiative the borders will be further broken down thus allowing to tell many stories, even the less known ones, but which represent the different (R)Existences of a world that is increasingly global, yes, but less and less attentive to the needs of people and less and less respectful of traditions and identities.
Ciro Corona stated: “The (R)esistenze Collection is the evolutionary synthesis of a long work started by (R)esistenza Anticamorra several years ago with the editorial project [erre]edizioni. The idea of giving voice to stories of redemption of the territories, to those splinters of anonymous resistance that keep hope and our lands alive. The story of Cira and of the journey made by the hundreds of women, who look to her, deserved a complete editorial journey, that is, of “network” and communion of intent and social implications. This marriage was only possible with Giammarino Editore”.
Publisher Gino Giammarino stated: “The project that was born by linking Giammarino Editore to the association (R)Esistenza and the Officina delle Culture is the natural consequence of the meeting between two entities deeply committed to social issues, culture and business that creates economic and mental development in the territories, in a way that is as concrete as it is distant from the policies of announcements that – almost always – are followed by nothing.
The mission of positivity of our publishing house finds its exaltation in putting itself at the service of a territory like Scampia, without bending to the commonplace deterioration of fiction, but rather bringing as a dowry professionalism and careful choice of texts, together with an extraordinary desire to grow together by networking between arms, souls and hearts”.
The conference will be held in compliance with anti-covid19 regulations
Article published on March 5, 2021 - 18pm
Video Chronicles
