women-authors-from-italy

"Interviewer: [...] Is it true that you have rediscovered the Gospel? Delogu: Yes [...]. As a child, I received a Christian upbringing, but catechism had been somewhat imposed on me, with a harsh, not very inclusive approach. At the tender age of 38, I picked up the Gospel again – I had felt a bit put off by it before – and I rediscovered it: in some ways, I also felt a bit deceived, because what I had in my hands was a very inclusive text, one of love and understanding for others. I realise these might seem like trivial observations, but for me, a new path has opened up."

"If I thought my apprenticeship was over, I would be the first to be done for. It's a stimulus that you need all the time, otherwise you risk feeling like you've got nothing left to learn."

"What pisses me off the most is that it seems like if I wear a miniskirt or a revealing dress – because maybe I like myself like that at the moment – then what I say carries less weight, as if to talk about serious things I have to dress the way people expect me to dress to talk about certain topics."

"[When asked what a dyslexic person lacks] Automatism. When you learn to drive, you have to think carefully about pulling the clutch, engaging the gear, and starting the car. These are all things that you gradually learn to do in the right order, but once you've done it five, six, seven, a thousand times, it becomes automatic. That automaticity that people with dyslexia lack."

"Interviewer: What memories do you have of your time at school as a pupil? Delogu: I felt like I was in a kind of trance, as if I were in a suspended world. I couldn't understand why my classmates understood and learned concepts so quickly, while I had to struggle with them."

"[About dyslexia, a condition he suffers from] The mind of a dyslexic person is more 'artistic' and relies heavily on interpretation. So, drawing is easier for them, partly because of the colours. I'm a black belt at puzzles. When I was little, I was one of the few girls who could solve those tiny house puzzles with the coloured holes on top. [...] I block them with complete peace of mind now. I've got the fastest finger in the West."

"(About Mara Venier) Her way of hosting, of running a salon. You can't learn the kind of chemistry she has. You either have it or you don't. She is a great professional and a great woman. She has given so much of herself in so many battles. What's more, Renzo always speaks very highly of her. And I knew she was a wonderful person, even though I’d never met her. But standing in front of her and seeing how, even while sitting, she can fill the studio and make it a part of herself was a great lesson."

"I'm 40, not 20, when your hormones are going crazy, your head is full of dreams, and your future is in your hands. I'm 40, not 60. You've worked out who you are, you've won your battles, and you've given up on the ones that weren't right for you anymore. Your 40s are the stage of self-awareness. It's a middle-earth, like the one in The Lord of the Rings. You have to start getting to know yourself again. You look in the mirror and only see flaws, because they teach you to stop time, not to accept it, which is the biggest challenge. Accepting change […] by giving yourself centre stage."

"My secret is that I can't sit still – I always need to find something new. I have an attention deficit disorder, and it gives me so much: I have to channel all my energy into a relatively short period of time, and I try to do it as best I can. I think it's one of my strengths, and I'm happy that people like it."

"When I was a child, I didn't think I'd turn out like this. I'm sarcastic, I have fun, I like to smile and be with other people, but I find it hard to trust people, and I also really enjoy being on my own. And I have an immense need to create. I realised this while crying one day, and the next day in the shower, with Max Pezzali playing in the background."

"This idea that, if you're a beautiful woman, you shouldn't show it is absurd."

"I was 19 when I registered for VAT, thanks to Gialappa's. We were a group of dancers in miniskirts and boots who made fun of the phenomenon of 'letterine' and 'veline'. Every now and then, people bring up that experience thinking they can discredit me, but it was actually thanks to Gialappa's Band and Mago Forest that, even though I was doing a job on the fringes of the industry, I came to understand TV and how it works."

"The strange thing? For me, as someone who is dyslexic, an 'A' can twist in a thousand different ways and become a shape, not necessarily a fixed symbol. The letters kind of fly around because my mind is processing them. This used to make me suffer a bit: the rules of writing come in forcefully, and you have to deal with them."

"Interviewer: What does body positivity mean to you? Delogu: It definitely means being at peace with yourself, but it also means not pissing other people off. If other people's opinions can help me develop and grow, I welcome them with open arms. On the other hand, if it's expressed solely to assert oneself at the expense of my peace of mind, then no. I'd be tempted to say: 'Who actually believes you?'"

"Interviewer: In your work, is luck more important than determination? Delogu: Luck is the variable; determination is the daily kick-start: without it, I would have given up years ago. Those who win are the ones who grit their teeth, who know their limits but still set themselves ambitious goals."

"Interviewer: What aspect of "Emilia Romagna has stayed with you? Delogu: Determination. "Don't despair, there's a solution" is the phrase I heard most often."

"You don't need to know if a relationship will work. It needs to start."

"Interviewer: She realised she wanted to do TV when she was a teenager, in Rimini... Delogu: I was 14. We were at an event where everyone was waiting for Cristina D'Avena, who was late."

"[...] It seems that only if you become a mother are you a grown-up and have done your duty in the world."

"Interviewer: [...] you revealed that you have dyslexia. What did this discovery mean to you?'}}"

"I have no taboos about my body. That's just the way I am. I joke that I dress for your decency, not mine."

"Support for people with dyslexia cannot be left to personal sensitivity and goodwill. What is needed is specific teacher training. And here in Italy, we're behind on this."

"Because I do so many different things, the people who appreciate me and follow me sometimes come to me from different backgrounds, from different places. Perhaps what people like about me is that I always engage on an equal footing with those who follow me and appreciate my work: I speak directly, and if something goes wrong, I'll argue [laughs, ed.] and then make up."

"In my life, my revolutionary nature has shown itself in the fact that I haven't changed according to what I've been asked to do. I've never 'changed my tune' because of someone else's decision, but only when it was the right time for me, when I felt I wanted to reinvent myself. I've sometimes been asked to be less feisty or, during my first auditions, less approachable and to adopt a more detached style of presenting...I haven't given in."

"(The letters of the alphabet: a stumbling block for people with dyslexia) They're difficult because they only have meaning in that particular position."

"(About the EasyReading font that helps people with dyslexia overcome reading difficulties) [...] What amazes me is that many people didn't know about the existence of a special, highly readable font. What's more, it's an Italian invention […], a way of reading that is easier for people with dyslexia, but also much more convenient for those without dyslexia. What's more, some of the letters aren't the same, so text can be read more smoothly."

"I've learnt a few little tricks that have put me on a par with the others. It's as if I'd made my own glasses, and now I can see perfectly."

"I realised that [film making] is truly a team effort, much more so than TV. When you present a programme, you're at the forefront and you have the opportunity to set the pace and provide a unifying theme for the production. A film, on the other hand, is a montage of lots of scenes, most of which you're not in. On set, everyone is on an equal footing, and you put yourself in the director's hands."

"Arbore, Frassica and Giusti are artists I work well with because they haven't imposed any rules or judgements on me. Success came three years ago, and so did professionalism. But I know that my distinctive way of presenting is down to my dyslexia: I don't follow what the writers have written; instead, I make the concept of the programme my own and internalise it."

"Sometimes, when I'm tired, my words get mixed up: I'm fond of them, and my husband always laughs at that."

"I just live, without that anxiety that used to take everything away from me, the anxiety of having to answer society's questions. [...] When are you going to have a child? When are you going to do a more important programme? So, when are you going to grow up? But I've realised that growing up isn't compulsory – only maturing is. Interviewer: What's the difference? Delogu: Growing up is associated with a certain idea of becoming an adult, which means being a serious, calm and predictable person. But that's not who I am, and that's not who I want to be. [...] Between the ages of 30 and 38, like many people, I had become complacent about who I was. I used to say to myself: this is who I am, this is my life, this is what I've chosen. For so many years, I wore a mask – the mask of a reassuring person, someone who would be good at starting a family. I had put myself in a position where I had to answer other people's questions. My divorce was precisely the opportunity for me to change. I looked in the mirror and said to myself: 'What do I do now?' Do I die, or do I rebuild myself?'"

"I'm dyslexic in an Italy that doesn't even know how to pronounce the name of this disorder [...]. From a young age, I had to build a shield around myself so I wouldn't let all those people who called me stupid get to me. If I'm not intimidated by criticism today, it's only because I grew up in a very tough environment, like a minefield."

"I have always read a lot, ever since I was a young girl. [...] Later, I started writing, but only for myself. The stimulus came after reading Proust's Recherche in its entirety. When I decided to submit something to a publishing house and was told that no, it wasn't good enough, I was very satisfied."

"Acting means telling the truth about things, about the world, even if it may seem like a contradiction. Because fiction is one thing, acting is another."

"Comedy comes from a very deep background: I went down deep, collected my shells and when I came up, I made sure that everything I had brought back did a somersault. Humour does not come only from ridicule; on the contrary, we laugh not at someone but thanks to someone: this is its greatness."

"[Marchesini:] 'We have always been very close. There is always respect, friendship and professionalism. We still keep in touch even now that our paths on stage have separated. When Massimo told us he wanted to do other things on his own, we were sorry, but it also seemed like the most natural and right thing to do.‘ [Interviewer] ’What was it like being between two men?" [Marchesini:] 'I always felt like a fusilli inside a packet of macaroni, but that's fine with me. All in all, when I think about what we did, I feel that we had a sense of success, yes, we did, and in the end, perhaps the responsibility of always having to live up to expectations weighed on us a little."

"The serenity of our faces and the happiness of our hearts are the greatest testimony to the appearance of majesty. For there you have the most reliable witnesses of our sentiments. For that which is harbored in the heart shines forth as though through a window, and that which you cannot hear because of this speaker’s lack of eloquence can be perceived through comments from the populace and from the eyes of everyone here just as joy is palpable in the looks of those who are rejoicing. Thus it is that, since everyone is over. come with incredible joy, and you with your joyous gaze have brought kudos and felicity, all men think that this illustrious day should not only be marked, as they say with a white stone, but everyone thinks the day should be commemorated each year with solemn honors. For no matter how ignorant one may be by nature, is there anyone who would not embrace the memory of the queen of the Sarmatians? Who would not marvel at the greatness of her august and holy presence? Who would not worship and revere her as though she were a goddess?In order to respond to so many distinguished and renowned women, which I can do, I shall say that the saying "the fickle herd can feed on heavenly air" certainly can never be, since, while the divine beauty of your mind and body has slipped away from my heart and mind, the memory of your name will remain so deeply ingrained in everyone’s mind that no age will ever obliterate it.But to say something myself to celebrate the greatness of your fame, which has traveled to the ends of the earth while I have remained silent, I would gladly spend all the days of my life. Nor is there anything that could please me more or that I could hope for more than that, not because I think your name would be embellished by my work and industry, but so that in glorifying you I might hope that my life too might be consigned to immortality."

"An admirable Electra was the youthful Alessandra; admirable for the manner in which she, an Italian, pronounced the speech of Athens; in the just intonations of her voice, in preserving the illusion of the scene, in faithfully portraying the character, and regulating the expression, gestures and movements, proper to her part; in keeping the language of passion within the bounds of decorum, in awakening the pity of the audience by the sight of her tearful face. All were deeply moved, but oh! what envy did I feel within my heart when she clasped Orestes to her breast and cried, 'Do I hold thee in mine arms?' and he replied, 'Oh, mayest thou ever hold me thus!'"

"At last I have found that which I desired, that which I have always sought, the love long sighed for, the love beheld in my dreams! A maiden of perfect beauty, of grace which is natural and not acquired; a maiden learned in Greek and Latin, excellent in the dance, skilled in music, in which qualities, veiled by her modesty, she is the rival of the Graces. I have found her! But what doth it profit me, if I, who burn for her, can see her scarce once a year?"

"Tandem venit amor, qualem texisse pudori quam nudasse alicui sit mihi, Fama, magis."

"Somewhat awkward in expression, they are remarkable for their candor."

"Nowe, after my dome, Dame Sulpicia at Rome, Whose name regystred was For euer in tables of bras, Because that she dyd pas In poesy to endyte, And eloquently to wryte, Though she wolde pretende My sparowe to commende, I trowe she coude not amende Reportynge the vertues all Of my sparowe royall."

"Ne tibi sim, mea lux, aeque iam fervida cura ac videor paucos ante fuisse dies, si quicquam tota commisi stulta iuventa cuius me fatear paenituisse magis, hesterna quam te solum quod nocte reliqui ardorem cupiens dissimulare meum."

"Exoluit promissa Venus: mea gaudia narret, dicetur si quis non habuisse sua."

"Sed peccasse iuvat, vultus componere famae taedet: cum digno digna fuisse ferar."

"[Christ's pain] is ours as all things belong to us and Him together. We take this supreme gift from the Master and bring it back to Him in the bosom of the Trinity... so that through Him it may be presented to the Father and become precious in His eyes. Then the pain of a small soul becomes again the pain of Christ, of the humanised Word, and is transformed into a source of grace... for many souls."

"After the transition from tenacious adolescent atheism to an unconditional and persevering surrender to God, Itala faced the ascent to the mountain of holiness by overcoming every psychological and spiritual obstacle...In addition to prayer and advice, Itala, despite her less than florid financial circumstances, was generous with charity. In Blessed Itala Mela, the Church leaves behind a message of confidence in the possibility of the laity not only to live Christian holiness to the full, but also to be creators and protagonists of the cultural and spiritual renewal of society. (Angelo Amato)"

"Living the Inhabitation is not an extraordinary thing, but the logical consequence of our Baptism."

"Never forget that in our soul is the dwelling place of the Most Holy Trinity, as in a new heaven. We often strive to unite ourselves with God by complicated means and do not think that we always have within us, as long as we are in a state of grace, the divine Guest....... If among our occupations we would often collect ourselves for a single moment within ourselves and make contact with a single thought with the Most Holy Trinity, who deigns to sanctify our hearts, we would soon discover infinite treasures."

"Make the indwelling (of the three divine Persons in me) the centre of my life."