Italian Language and Theater Professor Rosa Filardi Publishes New Book: Inquietudini
John Cabot University Italian Language and Theater professor Rosa Filardi recently published Inquietudini (Anxiety, Macabor publisher, 2022). She is a professional (APID®) DanceMovementTherapist and collaborates with the Compagnia della Mia Misura, an integrated Dance-Theatre group and a project of social inclusion through art and dance. She is one of the founders and organizers of the InVerse poetry festival.
Rosa Filardi
Congratulation on publishing your new book of short stories Inquietudini. Where did you get the inspiration from?
I draw inspiration from life, from what I feel and observe, and from memory. Most of the stories in this book are based on experiences that I’ve lived through, and I have been able to reconstruct them thanks to memory, which is above all body memory.
How did you become passionate about writing?
I have always been a compulsive reader, even as a child. I start reading an author and then continue to read everything they have written to immerse myself in their world. As a girl I loved writing poems, short stories, postcards, songs, and above all letters. I don’t like writing emails, but I always carry a journal where I write down my reflections and observations. I also have various notebooks where I write thoughts, ideas, words, or phrases that come to me from life or from what I read. I am a fan of small notebooks.
Name three writers that everyone should read at least once and why?
It’s a hard question. I love the classics. As a girl I read a lot of Russian, American, and European literature. If I had to choose, I would say that you can’t not read Fyodor Dostoevsky, Virginia Woolf, Clarice Lispector, and poetry, lots of good poetry.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Read as much as you can. Observe reality with an open mind and with all your senses. Learn to reflect, to wait, because if you want to write “you have to feel deeply,” as Dostoevsky said, otherwise it is a pure literary exercise, and you will find your own unique, authentic voice.
You’re a writer, a professional (APID®) DanceMovementTherapist, and a professor of Italian Language and Theater. How do you juggle all your passions?
I am also a mom, and this too requires a lot of energy! I’ve always wanted a creative life. When I was studying theater, I was struck by the words of the great Konstantin Stanislavski in his book My life in Art (1924). He talked about becoming a creative, organic actor, but he meant being a creative human being, and that’s how I’ve always wanted my life to be. It is what I try to convey in my teaching too. Art is a very powerful healing and pedagogical tool. Art nourishes, teaches, and heals us.
