About Flavia

Welcome – Benvenuti! I was born and raised in Arena, a medieval hill town in Calabria, the ancient “instep” of the Italian Peninsula, and I studied the Classics and European Literature at the University of Naples. I wrote my first short story when I was 12, and ever since then writing has been the most important thing I do.

When I was 28 I came to live in San Francisco, where I learned English by watching children’s television programs with my son Adam, then four years old. I love English as much as I love Italian, for different reasons but in the same measure. I write in English and in Italian, I think in English and in Italian, and I dream in English and in Italian.

In 1984 I graduated Summa Cum Laude in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, where I also got my Master’s Degree. The six years at SFSU were without a doubt the happiest of my life; I remember those long hours spent in the library with books as a wonderful time spent with dear friends.

From a student of Creative Writing at SFSU I went on to become a teacher of Creative Writing, a most rewarding job where I met many young people with a true gift for writing. I am the recipient of the Emily Dickinson Award sponsored by the Poetry Society of America. I have taught Italian at the Italian Institute of Language and Culture in San Francisco and in several other schools throughout the Bay Area.

I have also worked for many years as a translator and consultant for the Italian Consulate General, specializing in Citizenship applications; another rewarding job where over my fourteen years I have helped hundreds of people of Italian descent reach their goal of reconnecting with the land of their ancestors. I live in Pacifica, California, right at the edge of the ocean where the continent ends.