Anna Valente, Between Fantasy
and Introspection
Interview by Maria Teresa De Donato
Dear friends, today we have a dear friend and fellow Author,
Anna Valente, better known on Facebook as "Lullaby Anna Valente."
Anna is a true
Neapolitan, born in December, a month that, by her own
admission, she adores "for its magic and not only for Christmas, but for
all the mystery it brings with it."
Anna is also an
authentic person, very generous and altruistic, and it is an immense pleasure
and an honor for me to have met her and consider her a colleague and a friend.
Let's get to know her better and delve into some aspects of her person and her
literary production without further ado.
Enjoy your reading!
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MTDD: Hello, Anna, and
welcome to my Blog and Virtual Cultural Salon. It is a pleasure to have you as
my guest.
AV: Good evening to you,
Maria Teresa. It's an absolute
pleasure and an honor to be here. Thank you for the invitation, and thank you
to all who will read us.
MTDD: Anna, let's start by
introducing yourself.
What would you like to
tell our readers about yourself?
AV: Well, I was born in
Naples in December 1969, a month that I love because it is magical, mystical,
and mysterious. I have been married to Giorgio since 1991; I have two children:
Domenico (Niko), who is an archaeologist, and Raffaela (Dafne), who is an Interior
Designer. I also have a furry son, a black cat named Zoro. My children are my
greatest joy because they have made their dreams come true, and I admire them
because, despite the obstacles, they have never given up.
I love the sea,
especially in winter, which is my best friend and source of inspiration, along
with music. I am a commercial expert, but I love the humanities. I like
everything mysterious, and that cannot be seen but is perceived. I collaborate
as a staff member with CE Atile, on which I have published my three books.
Often, my dear friend, whom I call my patron, Milena Bonvissuto, invites me to her
live, where we talk about books, culture, and more. I have also collaborated
with Andrea Ansevini in his cultural programs as a guest or
judge; Andrea is a special person. I love reading and reviewing most of the
books I buy myself or that a friend gives me. Writing is my therapy; it helps
me free the words inside me that have no voice but that I wish I could tell.
Finally, writing has
made me bare my soul, that same soul that often hid so as not to be noticed.
MTDD: Before considering
your books and the themes you write about, why don't you tell us of "the
magic of Christmas in Naples and the mystery it carries within itself"
that you referred to in your biography?
AV: Christmas in Naples,
you have to experience it to understand it, among the alleys of my city,
especially in San Gregorio Armeno where the shops are full of Nativity scenes,
shepherds, and many accessories that Neapolitans love to buy to decorate the Nativity
scenes, but make no mistake, it is not a trend, this is tradition. The Nativity
scene has a history that those who make it must know. I love all this, but I'll
tell you the truth: don't get mad or upset with me; I love the Christmas tree.
Yes, the tree that reminds me of the pagan origins, the evergreens, and the
symbol of rebirth and the winter solstice.
As a good Neapolitan, I
recognize the great importance of the Nativity scene for most of my fellow
citizens, but as a good witch (haha), I know very well what is behind the magic
of those days. Anyway, returning to Naples and Christmas, the entire area of
the historic center makes those days rich in magic, colors, lights, and scents,
from caramelized peanuts to roasted chestnuts (for those who don't know them,
they are chestnuts charcoaled). As I was saying, the Nativity scene is a
ritual; every day, a character or an accessory is inserted: from the stream
where real water flows (via a mechanism) to the shepherd who
grazes the sheep, to the miniature shops inside, even if fake, are stocked with
everything. Over time, the habit has become of inserting famous people into the
Nativity scene, from football players to politicians, singers, athletes, etc.,
which I honestly don't like since it falls into the bad taste of commercialism,
even if to tell the truth the figurines that represent the various characters
excellently reproduce them.
Furthermore, let’s not forget
the hot sfogliatelle served at any time, but the main problem is managing to
free yourself from the throngs of people that drags you through those streets
on those days, and above all finding a way to get back on the road. Christmas
in Naples is a pilgrimage for Neapolitans and tourists who enjoy the magic of
Christmas in the chaos.
MTDD: How did your love
for writing begin? When did you start writing, and why?
AV: Writing, as I said
before, is my therapy. I have always spoken little, so writing has always been
my way of communicating with others and myself to exorcise fears or become
aware of what I could say. I wrote and published my first book, Dormimondo,
16 years ago at the urging of my children; the same book was republished in
February 2024 by CE, with which I currently collaborate. It gave it the proper
visibility it deserved.
Then, in 2022, I
published Risveglio, an introspective book born during the pandemic to
fill those dark days. But in the meantime, since my left hand left the task of
often using the pen to my right hand, I have always written: in many notebooks
and diaries in my drawers full of stories, tales, and poems, my world, my life,
all in the ink that stopped on paper.
MTDD: What role do
Naples and your Neapolitanism play in your writings?
AV: Even if I rarely
mention cities in my stories, Naples is between the lines, tangible from the
description of a place, an emotion, a music, a way of speaking. Naples is in my
veins. As I always say, they have no blood but salt and lava. Neapolitanism is
not in my ways of doing things but in my being cordial and, as they often say,
in the love, the pathos, and the agape I tell. I am Neapolitan, I am Naples, I am not the
stereotypes of these, but I am the love for culture, art, music, the sea, and
mystery.
MTDD: Many years ago, you published your first book, Dormimondo,
a second edition in 2024 and the English version in February 2025.
Would you like to tell
us about it?
AV: As I mentioned, I
wrote it 16 years ago. Then I took it up again in 2024 and finally
self-published it in February 2025 with the help of a dear friend that Milena
and I call our human AI (haha). Dormimondo is something special, said
someone. "Dormimondo teaches you to dream," "Dormimondo helps
you to hope," and "Dormimondo is the place where each of us is
true."
MTDD: In your biography, you
explain that this book has been classified as a ‘fantasy’ genre but that you
define it as "a book of imagination that is something else."
Would you like to
explain this concept to those confused by the similarity of the two concepts?
AV: Happy to do so.
Fantasy is unreal; the imagination creates something different from reality.
Because Dormimondo still exists in reality. A fantasy is a story with
invented characters, unreal worlds, elves, wizards, parallel worlds, etc.. In a
book where imagination prevails, we find the irruption into the real world of
something that does not belong to it but instead creates a surprising effect.
MTDD: In November 2022, your
book Risveglio was released, and a second edition was published in 2024.
Your work is introspective and tells of a journey anyone could take.
Without revealing too
much, what can you tell us about this publication of yours and the
introspective journey?
AV: Risveglio (=
Awakening) is the journey within ourselves, a way to ask questions to the many
answers we have, because often our mind, or rather our life, has a written
script, with the answers in the right place, but usually we do not know the
questions. In Risveglio, the protagonist explains the concept of
'different', which is not the same as 'changed'; therefore, like
every person that does not change but finds herself different after each
experience. Finally, the protagonist herself takes us into her world, showing
us what it is but might not be. It was an unexpected ending; to date, anyone
who has read it has been shocked. I won't say anything else, but believe me, it
is worth reading.
MTDD: How could this book of yours help the reader?
AV: Helping them ask the
right questions, make the right choices, and see things as they are before
everything becomes fate and no longer destiny or free will, however you wish to
call it.
MTDD: In December 2024, you
published E poi strada facendo (= And then along the way), which you
wrote with your colleague Federico Innascoli.
Can you tell us about
the content of this publication and your experience writing together?
AV: This book has been an
incredible adventure. I didn't think I could write with someone else, but
Federico, the actual promoter of this publication, wanted it at all costs, and
I am thrilled and proud of it. And then, along the way, the journey home
tells us how stolen, betrayed, abandoned love can search for itself, find
itself again, and forgive itself, thus allowing itself to choose its path and
start living without carrying that sense of emptiness or incompleteness.
In any case, I was excited and had fun writing it.
MTDD: Thank you, Anna, for
being my guest. We want to remind those who wish to contact you or buy your
publications how to do so.
AV: Thank you from the
bottom of my heart for the fantastic opportunity. I am present on Facebook and
Instagram as lullabyannavalente, and my books can be purchased on Amazon in
paper, eBook, and with KU.
One last thing, if I
may add:
'Lullaby' is the name
that was given to me 16 years ago by a friend of my children while we were
going to a library to present my Dormimondo, or rather ours because Dormimondo
was also born from the stories of the kids who used to hang out at my house. As
I was saying, this girl told me: "Now that you have brought us all to Dormimondo,
I will call you Lullaby because you are our Lullaby."
Thanks again to you,
Maria Teresa, and to all the readers.
Namaste.
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