"For the first time we decided to tell our story through a graphic novel. It isn’t our usual communication style, but it’s certainly a way to reach more people, especially the youngest generations."

With these words, Susanna Marietti presented her graphic novel "Antigone. 25 years of Italian history seen from behind bars" at the Salone dell’Editoria Sociale on October 30, 2016. Round Robin Editrice is the editor of this graphic novel.

"The drawings were made by Valerio Chiola, who was extremely good in drawing the situations we needed. The sketches of some of my colleagues show an impressive resemblance to their real features," said Marietti.

Three stories, one struggle for dignity

The graphic novel is composed by three stories about Italian history as they relate to prison conditions. The stories are about the political incarceration of the 80s, the mafia incarcerations of the 90s and the prison overcrowding of recent years.

The graphic novel underlines the struggle of detainees to bring their situation to the attention of the authorities, the presence of a everlasting state of emergency in the prison system, and the attempt of the legislature to find a remedy to it.

Antigone’s story develops at the same time and is inevitably connected to the others and to the struggle for detainees’ rights and dignity.

Ilaria Cucchi and Tommaso di Francesco both participated in the presentation of the book, and each delivered a statement on the work of Antigone. Tommaso di Francesco, from the newspaper Il Manifesto, told the story of the very beginning of Antigone, which is shown in the graphic novel. Ilaria Cucchi’s words were about the role of Antigone in her personal struggle for justice for her brother, Stefano Cucchi, who died in detention seven years ago.

"I thought I was alone, I thought no one could help me to seek justice for my brother, then the phone rang: it was Antigone. Since then I have never been alone in my battle," said Ilaria Cucchi.