Arow over the participation of an allegedly far-right publishing house at Rome's Più Libri Più Liberi book fair escalated further on Thursday when Orecchio Acerbo said it was pulling out of Italian publishers' association AIE in protest.
The Passaggio al Bosco publishing house is accused—along with its promoters—of distributing texts that glorify Nazi-Fascist and anti-Semitic figures and ideologies.
On Wednesday iconic leftwing satirical cartoonist Zerocalcare withdrew from the independent book publishing fair, saying he was unwilling to be at the same venue as Passaggio al Bosco.
Zerocalcare was among some 80 Italian authors who appealed to organisers to ban Passaggio al Bosco from the fair in a letter also signed by Anna Foa, Alessandro Barbero, Antonio Scurati, Christian Raimo, and Caparezza.
The AIE rejected the appeal saying that "Passaggio al Bosco has adhered to the values of the Constitution and readers will make their own minds up." Orecchio Acerbo, which specializes in books for children and young people, said it "totally disagreed" with this position, saying the reasoning was "ludicrous".
