Sticko
Short story in the anthology
Freedom – AA.VV.
Publisher: Mondadori
Series: Piccola Biblioteca Oscar
Exit date : 7 settembre 2010
Pages: 518
Stecco, the very young protagonist of my story, is one of the protesters at the 2001 Genoa G8 who found himself being tortured in a police station. Shattered by memories and fear, in order to survive he has learnt to disappear from his surroundings, just like some insects do.
The details of the ‘abuse of power’ and the ‘inhuman and degrading treatment’ (as torture was then defined in Italy, when this crime did not exist) and the words of those who committed them, which I quote in the story, are taken from the testimony given during the trial. As is the predominant and disturbing indifference that surrounded these events, both at the level of public opinion and the governments involved.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“Sticko” was nominated for the 2015 Pushcart Prize by New York literary magazine “The Atlas Review”
Was the subject of the conference “Torture and the Evolution of Humankind: Suffering and the body in Gabriella Ambrosio’s ‘Sticko’”,
University of York, UK, 23 May 2012
FREEDOM has been translated and published by the following publishing houses:
Mainstream Publishing | Mondadori | Random House | Key Porter | Kailas | Broadway Paperbacks | Gruner | Dogan Egmont | Editorial Presenca
“It’s hard to pick a few of the many highlights from this extraordinary collection of short stories […] A memorable creation is ‘Sticko’, in Gabriella Ambrosio’s reflection in our right to freedom from torture.”
Tribune Magazine, London
“Sticko” by Gabriella Ambrosio is one of the most effective and powerful short stories I have come across in 25 years as a translator
Alastair McEwen
“I have read and re-read ‘Sticko’. It is powerful but troubling. Until I can put my hand on what is troubling I feel paralysed. More awe struckness and the embarrassment of not having the right words to express my feeling.”
Bill Shipsey