Meet Elisa Guidelli | Novelist & Screenwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elisa Guidelli and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elisa, why did you pursue a creative career?
I have pursued an artistic career because through writing and researching and creating stories, I really feel driven to live my life fully. My love for books and stories started when I was a child, and it grew with me until I decided to put myself out there and create stories of my own. I am a historian by training, specifically I have a degree in Medieval History, and historical research is always the basis of my stories, but the need to let my imagination run free in creation made me choose a career as a novelist and screenwriter. It is difficult, but intense and above all, true.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have always been an atypical writer, not stopping at one genre but experimenting, and continuing to experiment, with different genres. This has been a problem and an obstacle, not to my personal and inner growth, but to my growth as an author: being recognized as a voice is often one of the goals of a writer, and I have always made uncomfortable choices by seeking out the stories I liked, and not the ones that were fashionable at a particular time. Today, I focus a lot on my lifelong passion: women’s stories, especially great women of the past, who may have been forgotten or never considered despite their impactful personal histories.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would definitely take him on a tour of the lands of Canossa, in the province of Reggio Emilia, Italy. These are the lands of Countess Matilda, who ruled in the 12th century and managed power by fighting an emperor and finding an ally in the pope. I wrote a novel about her, “The Novel of Matilda,” which I have turned into a television series, now in pre-production. The lands of Canossa even today are dotted with castles, parish churches, manors, monasteries, woods and forests that take you back to that time when a woman ruled over these lands: the best choice is to take long walks to discover the nature and places of the Reggio Emilia Apennines, and then taste the typical dishes such as tortelli, erbazzone, taglieri di salumi, tigelle, washed down with Lambrusco and Spergola wines typical of these areas.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are some people in my writing journey and growth as a writer who have played an important role, especially when it came to not giving up: my family has always supported me, despite the hard times, obstacles and failures I stumbled into along the way. Then, some colleagues who shared shared with me the writing of novels or screenplays, or supported some of my projects.

Website: http://www.eliselle.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elisella/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisa-guidelli-687925166/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/elisellanana

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elisellanana/

Image Credits
Credits Pietro Sorano & Patrizia Cogliati