

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisa Guidelli.
Hi Elisa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
After 20 years of experience in the fiction world, in which I have written about different literary genres and published twenty books, mostly novels and a few essays, I decided to participate in 2019 in the Fiction course of Bottega Finzioni, the Bologna-based training school founded by Carlo Lucarelli dedicated to writing. Here I was able to delve into storytelling techniques applied to feature films, short films, and TV series, my great love for as long as I can remember. Since then, I have pursued the two in parallel: writing novels and fiction on the one hand, devising projects for TV shows, feature films, and short films on the other.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would have liked to take a linear and unhindered path, but there were so many difficulties to deal with: first, the difficulty as a young woman in making my way in a world that struggled to evaluate my abilities and proposals, sometimes in advance of market needs, then certainly the fact that I pursued writing while continuing to work in other fields. Economic independence does not often go hand in hand with intellectual and creative independence, and writers struggle to devote themselves only to writing, at least in Italy: this fatigues you more and you have to be tough to not give up.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have devoted a good part of my life to writing, certainly more than half. I started with light novels, romantic comedies, but I soon realized that writing for me was a way of communication and often followed my moods. So, I also wrote noir fiction, which also allowed me to explore the dark side of creativity. I came to historical fiction, my ancient love, precisely because of my experiences in exploring other literary genres. “Il romanzo di Matilda” (“Matilda’s novel”), the fictionalized biography about Matilda of Canossa, is my greatest work, and I am turning it together with Ilaria Malvezzi into a TV show: it is a period drama about a strong woman at a time when women could not aspire to positions of power or command troops and men. She did both, and much better than men; telling her story is a mission for me. After her story, I devoted myself to recovering another strong woman from the past: the poet and courtesan Veronica Franco. This period drama is also in development with Ilaria Malvezzi and Meltea Keller and has attracted the interest of a great actress. Let’s watch and see.
What matters most to you?
Certainly, the recovery of the history of women who have made a difference a have been forgotten by history, intentionally or incidentally. Women’s history is a fine line that binds almost all of my publications and stories.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.eliselle.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elisella/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elisellanana
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/elisellanana
Image Credits
Grazia La Notte
Patrizia Cogliati