Professor Antonio Imeneo Co-Founded Books for Peace to Bring Light and Voice to Those Without

Producer’s Note: Frontrunners Development, Inc. via our Media Platform, Frontrunners Innovate, is proud to partner with BOOKS for PEACE to help spread the mission for peace and to amplify the voice of those who need to be heard. BOOKS for PEACE is a global organization co-founded by Professor Antonio Imeneo of Italy. Professor Imeneo is the Director of the International Research Center FUNVIC, Europe. He also serves as Director for the International Foundation for Tolerance, Europe, and is the Director for Italy of the Parlamento Mundial de Education PAME, and is Member Consejo, Iberoamericano en Honor a la Calidad Educativa.

I connected with Professor Imeneo recently to gather some information about the BOOKS for PEACE organization. What follows is our Q & A:

Q: Professor, what prompted you to start the BOOKS for PEACE organization, and when was it launched?

A: Both, Alessandro Marchetti (the other co-founder), and I realized that there were many young people and also many elderly people who made splendid literary works, poems, novels, etc., but which ended up promptly closed in a drawer because they had no money or did not know any publisher. We then decided to create a literary competition to grant a prize to these wonderful people; recognition of their works and thus make them more visible to publishers. The BOOKS for PEACE Literary Competition was born in 2017 in Rome. In 2018, the BOOKS for PEACE International Award was born in parallel.

Q: What is the specific mission of the organization and how do you make your message heard?

A: The main mission is to “be light for those who are not seen and a voice for those who are not heard.” We wish to bring to the attention of the world all those people and/or organizations who, in silence and in the shadows, live and work to improve the world. We have already awarded numerous people and organizations; we are now present in 5 continents and 61 countries. What is incredible and I would dare to say wonderful, is the affection that the world is showing us and the aggregation that is being created around BOOKS for PEACE. We have stimulated personal growth and ego with a huge civic sense. The winners of the various editions are pointing out to us all those beautiful realities present in the world that live to improve the quality of our life.

Q: Are there any ongoing projects or programs you wish to share that will impact peace?

A: We have reached the sixth edition, which is 2022, dedicated to children (the protection and defense of minors.) This year, we have taken as a reference, two young people who live in Greece who manage the CHIOS refugee camp in Greece with great difficulty but with enormous sensitivity. Among the partners awarded 2022 there are Actionaid and Save the Children. Each edition is dedicated to specific social issues of our daily life:

in 2018 / Fighting Violence Against Women and Fighting Femicide, Godmother Ms. Jessica Notaro (a girl who was disfigured by acid from her ex out of jealousy),
2019 / Sport and Human Rights dedicated to my great and fraternal friend Daniele Nardi (the mountaineer who died on Nanga Parbat 2018), who created the High Flag of Human Rights signed by more than 5000 children from all over the world,
in 2020 / Pathological Art and Culture dedicated to all those cultural activities aimed at those who experience a psycho-physical disability, Godmother Marta Bifano and Godfather Dario Dambrosi Teatro Pathologico
in 2021 / dedicated to Mother Earth, to the Environment. In 2021, it was the world plant year – Godfather Stefano Tirelli for SKY-SPORT for NATURE.
2022 Defense of the Childhood …………………..

Our Literary Competition and International Award aims to stimulate dialogue, discussion, and debates, promote Human Rights, promote Culture, and Integration. The jury of the 2022 Literary Competition is made up of inmates from two “Regina Coeli” prison houses of Rome and the Rieti prison.

Q: How many ambassadors and award winners do you currently have? How many countries are represented?

A: The winners of the Literary Competition and the International Prize are innumerable and all over the world. From this edition of ’22, we have created the figure of the Ambassador, the one who will promote Peace, Culture, Interreligious Dialogue, and Integration, and will be the spokesperson for BOOKS for PEACE.

Q: What kind of people would you like to meet to help you grow your efforts?

A: No one is excluded; all are architects of the destiny of the world and everyone can contribute to improving coexistence on Mother Earth. The mistake that has been made from the media point of view is to make all of us believe that we can only help the world and people through great works with enormous amounts of money. This disillusioned and slowed down the people, inhibiting their own desire for the little one door-to-door help. Millions of small gestures around the world with a pandemic effect can certainly be a great helping hand.

In conclusion, “Live by living;” be the creator and protagonist of the life of the world.