Italy Writers

Anna talks about the inspiration behind her debut novel Broken Madonna ( Nov 2024) and about her writing journey.

Born in England to older Italian immigrant parents, Anna Lucia spent long, hot summer holidays in the Apennine mountain village they had left behind to escape poverty and lack of opportunity. In the local dialect, she listened to the stories of elderly relatives about a time, place and way of life that were far removed from 1970s & 80s suburbia.

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Those voices, particularly of strong women who led tough lives, never went away, neither did the echoes of Catholicism.

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Anna has been awarded support for her writing from Arts Council England, and also writes short stories, flash fiction and poetry. She is Chair of Trustees of literature development agency, New Writing South, and is passionate about supporting and developing writers.

Larry Maness talks about his latest novel, A Perfect Crime, set in Boston (USA) and Rome. The first in this series, featuring private investigator Theo Perdoux was inspired by the Nazi pillage of thousands of art objects during World War 11.

Originally from Massachusetts, Larry selected Rome, 'the eternal city' as a major location for this second art theft story and spent much time there, in order to create an authentic voice.

Victoria Springfield talks to me about her latest novel 'Invitation to Italy' set on the gorgeous island of Procida near Naples and about her writing journey.

Victoria writes contemporary women's fiction immersed in the sights, sounds and flavours of Italy. Victoria grew up in Upminster, Essex. After many years in London, she now lives in Kent with her husband in a house by the river. She likes to write in the garden with a neighbour's cat by her feet or whilst drinking cappuccino in her favourite café. Then she types up her scribblings in silence whilst her mind drifts away to Italy.

Katherine Mezzacappa is an Irish writer of mainly historical fiction, currently living in Italy. She has published several novels under the pen names of Katie Hutton and Kate Zarrelli. Her latest novel, The Maiden of Florence was released in April 2024 by Fairlight Publishers. She works as a manuscript assessor for The Literary Consultancy. Katherine reviews for the Historical Novel Society’s quarterly journal and is one of the organisers of the Society’s 2022 UK conference. In her spare time, she volunteers with a used book charity of which she is a founder member.

A cosy chat in the studio with author Jack Lench about writing, self-publishing, marketing and his journey to get to print. Apologies for the hailstorm in the middle of the recording. 

He currently has two books available, Illicit Deception and Running Flush. The third book in this trilogy will be out early summer.