Luciana Castellina was expelled from the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1969 as part of the dissident il manifesto group, and has since served in the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the European Parliament. In her new memoir, Discovery of the World, Castellina describes her radicalization as a teenage girl in Fascist Italy, and the subsequent downfall of the regime.

On Sunday, April 6, Castellina will appear at Bluestockings Bookstore in conversation with Cinzia Arruzza and Jonah Birch to discuss her early politicization, the founding of Il Manifesto, the causes of the Manifesto group’s break with the PCI, and the spirit of the sixties and seventies Italian Left.

The following was published in the May-June 1985 issue of New Left Review.