Quaderni piacentini (Italian: Piacenza Notebooks) was a leftist political and cultural magazine which was published in Piacenza, Italy, between 1962 and 1984 with some interruptions. The magazine was one of the theoretical-political media outlets of the New Left^[1] and was one of the early publications with a pro-Chinese stance in Italy.^[2]

Quaderni piacentini was founded by Piergiorgio Bellocchio and Grazia Cherchi in Piacenza in 1962.^[3][4] It followed the tradition of Il Politecnico, a Milan-based Communist cultural and literary magazine published between 1945 and 1947.^[5]

Quaderni piacentini was published bimonthly until 1980^[6] and ceased publication in 1984.^[4] The magazine was directed by Piergiorgio Bellocchio.^[6] From 1971 it was directed by a management committee.^[6] The magazine covered articles on the student movement of 1968 and on criticism of capitalist society.^[6] After 1965 it began to feature discussions about the American civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and the Chinese Cultural Revolution.^[4]

The contributors of Quaderni piacentini were critical of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and other leading communist groups of the period in Italy.^[3] The reason for this opposition against the PCI was the party's nonrevolutionary policy.^[4] Although the Quaderni piacentini writers did not have a homogenous ideology, they were all adherents of the anti-moderate, anti-reformism and libertarianism.^[4] They also had a pro-Chinese stance.^[2] Notable contributors of Quaderni piacentini included Franco Fortini,^[2] Goffredo Fofi, Giovanni Giudici^[6] and Alberto Asor Rosa.^[4] The magazine was read mostly by leftist university students.^[5] In 1968 and 1970 it managed to sell 13,000 copies.^[4][5]

There are some books about Quaderni piacentini,^[5] one of which was published by Giacomo Pontremoli in 2017.^[3]