Members

Lori Hetherington thrives on words, connections, and emotions in their myriad forms. A translator, ghostwriter, and linguistic consultant, she published Tuscan Tales in 2020 and facilitates the monthly brainstorming session for writers at the British Institute of Florence. Her website: lhetheringtontranslation.com.

Monica Sharp fell in love with Europe in 1993 and moved to Florence in 2016 with her husband and two kids. A curious spirit, incurable bookworm, and language fanatic, Monica writes poetry, essays and fiction. Her website: sharpmonica.com.

Libby Cataldi holds a Doctorate of Education, is former Head of School, co-director
of the Maryland Writing Project at Towson University, and author of Stay Close (St Martin’s Press), Stammi Vicino (Rizzoli), and It Takes a Lifetime to Learn How to Live: An Italian American Story of Coming Home (Bordighera Press). She writes about her family’s battle with addiction as well as about her Italian family’s immigrant experience. Her website: libbycataldi.com.

Lauren Mouat is the author of the short story collection Intermezzo (Ali Ribelli Edition, 2022). She is the founder and editor of the bilingual literary magazine Open Doors Review and teaches writing in Florence. Her website: laurenmouat.com.

Michael Howerton is an award-winning journalist and fiction writer living in Florence. He’s the former editor in chief of the San Francisco Examiner, founding editor in chief of Granite Media, and editorial director of the diaTribe Foundation. Michael has also worked at the Wall Street Journal, The Daily, Forbes, the Atlantic and other publications. His fiction has been published in Salamander Magazine (Fiction Prize winner), Griffel, In Parentheses Magazine, and Yemassee Journal. He has taught writing at UC Berkeley, the College of New Jersey, and Berkeley City College.

Andrea Zurlo loves to play with words and languages. A writer and translator, she was named finalist for the award “Premio Planeta de Novela” in Spain, and other literary prizes, both with texts in Spanish and Italian. Her short stories were published in several anthologies in Europe and Latin America. She published three novels and a collection of her short stories, with different publishers. She also loves teaching writing techniques and creative writing.

Duncan Geddes: I graduated in natural sciences, tried to enter the commercial world and then went back to school to study medicine.  I eventually became a lung specialist working at the Royal Brompton, the UK national centre for heart and lung disease. I published over 300 very serious research papers and some medical textbooks as Professor of Respiratory Medicine at Imperial College and now, in retirement with 9 grandchildren, I sing in a Florentine choir and write less serious short stories and articles for magazines. 

Lisa Harvey is a freelance writer and lifelong lover of all things literary – a passion sparked as soon as she received her first library card. Originally from New England, she moved to Florence in 2012 and has since focused on travel writing and showcasing the beauty of Italy. Her work has appeared in Time Out, AARP, Atlas Obscura, and many more publications. She is thrilled to be a part of the Literary Society and looking forward to involving herself more in the international writing community in Florence.

Jacqueline Tanzella is a poet, workshop facilitator, and marketing consultant exploring the intersections of language, embodiment, and creative expression. Her workshops weave writing, sensory awareness, and subtle movement to help people return to their bodies and reconnect with their true voice. Originally from Connecticut, she spent fifteen years in San Francisco before moving to Paris for 5 years, where she went to Pastry School at the Ritz, gave chocolate workshops and deepened her relationship with her own femininity, voice, and poetry. She now lives in Tuscany, where she, her partner and friends turned an old villa into a retreat space, and where she occasionally bakes pies and cakes. Jacqueline continues to lead workshops and consult in brand marketing, bringing a vibrant, visual, and sensual approach to both her poetry and her professional work. https://www.jacquelinetanzella.com/

Fosca D’Acierno, an Italian American from New Jersey, has called Florence her home for over two decades. Following a long stint in academia, in 2023 she pivoted to entrepreneurship and founded Ask Fosca. She also hosts a podcast, 15 with Fosca, a real time storytelling project, which, together with her blog, provides insights into the nuances of contemporary Italian society and culture. She is currently working on her first novel. 

Katherine Mezzacappa is an Irish historical novelist, long resident in Carrara. She is the author of The Maiden of Florence (Fairlight, 2024, in translation with Piemme as La Vergine di Firenze) and The Ballad of Mary Kearney with Histria (2025). Writing as Katie Hutton, she has four novels with Zaffre (2020-2023). Katherine holds degrees from UEA, Durham and Canterbury Christ Church universities (UK).
Katherine is represented by Annette Green Authors’ Agency. Links to: Website, Facebook, & Bluesky.

Ilaria Natali is a Professor of English Literature at the University of Florence. She has a keen interest in modern manuscripts and literary writing processes, with a particular focus on nineteenth and twentieth-century texts. Since 2016, she has investigated the connections between literature and medicine, with a special emphasis on the representation of mental health in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature. Beyond research, she has served as General Editor of the scholarly journal LEA since 2020. She is also a promoter of international literary projects that encourage co-creative writing and innovative ways of engaging with texts to explore gender issues.

Sirpa Salenius, PhD, has edited several academic essay collections and authored such monographs as Rose Elizabeth Cleveland: First Lady and Literary Scholar (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) and An Abolitionist Abroad: Sarah Parker Remond in Cosmopolitan Europe (University of Massachusetts Press, 2016). 

Kamin Mohammadi is an Iranian-British award-winning author, journalist, broadcaster and teacher. Her journalism has won three awards from the LA Press Club in 2025 2023, been nominated for an Amnesty Human Rights in Journalism award in UK, and for a National Magazine Award by the American Society of Magazine Editors. Kamin has authored two books: THE CYPRESS TREE: A LOVE LETTER TO IRAN (Bloomsbury, 2011) which was published in Italy as MILLE FARFALLE NEL SOLE (Piemme Voci, Sept 2013). She has an essay in the Italian anthology PENSIERO MADRE (Neo Edizione, June 2016). Her second book BELLA FIGURA: HOW TO LIVE, LOVE AND EAT THE ITALIAN WAY has been published in 16 countries and is in development as a TV series. She has contributed an original story to the anthology: THE ORDINARY CHAOS OF BEING HUMAN (Penguin SE Asia). www.kamin.co.uk

Kate Nason is a writer who holds a degree in Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles. Upon graduation, she fled LA to Florence, Italy, where she planned to live forever. Two years in, tired of hocking leather wallets to tourists, she returned to Los Angeles, where she had a long career in LA’s contemporary art world. Her first memoir, Everything Is Perfect, was released as an Audible Original in 2021, and in print in 2022. Kate splits her time between Florence and the Oregon Coast, where she’s at work on her second book. Website: www.katenasonwrites.com  

Nicholas Brownlees was Professor of English Language and Translation at the University of Florence until his retirement in 2023. He has published numerous studies on news discourse in the early modern era and is founder and Board Member of the series of international conferences on Historical News Discourse (CHINED, www.chinednews.com). He is interested in the historical and modern-day interconnections between journalism and fiction. What did Daniel Defoe and other early novelists find in news writing to support and develop their forays into fiction? And what can modern-day fiction writers learn from traditional and more innovative forms of journalism?

Chris Torockio is an American fiction writer. He is the author of two novels and two story collections, most recently The Soul Hunters and The Truth at Daybreak. His fiction has appeared in Ploughshares, The Iowa Review, The Gettysburg Review, Colorado Review, The Antioch Review, West Branch, Willow Springs, and elsewhere. He teaches at Eastern Connecticut State University, where every summer he leads a six-week study abroad experience in Florence called Creative Writing Abroad.

Arianna Antonielli (<arianna.antonielli@unifi.it>) holds a PhD in English and American Studies from the University of Florence, where she now specialises in Humanities Computing and Digital Publishing. Her publications include: William Blake e William Butler Yeats. Sistemi simbolici e costruzioni poetiche (2009) and (with Mark Nixon), Edwin John Ellis’s and William Butler Yeats’s The Works of William Blake: Poetic, Symbolic and Critical. A Manuscript Edition, with Critical Analysis (2016). She is Journal Manager of the “Journal of Early Modern Studies”, “Lea – Lingue e Letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente”, “Studi irlandesi. A Journal of Irish Studies”, and “Qulso – Quaderni di Linguistica e Studi Orientali”.

Ela Vasilescu is a bilingual writer, professional interviewer, and certified person-centred emergency counselor whose work predominantly focuses on documenting the essence of our stories. Living in Florence for over two decades, she brings a trauma-informed, cross-cultural perspective to her work, supporting individuals in crisis through storytelling and reflection. Drawing on her journalism and narrative practice background, she also leads group sessions and storytelling workshops focused on emotional well-being and personal growth. An award-winning documentary writer published internationally, Ela continues to explore the power of individual stories, and when not with clients, on ambulance shifts, or teaching, she dedicates time to her memoir. Websites: https://elavasilescu.com/ &. https://walkintomystory.com/

Dianna Cannizzo writes memoir, flash non-fiction, essays and articles. Her writings have been published in Consequence Forum, War, Literature and the Arts and the University of Udine’s literary journal Le Simplegadi. She is a passionate speaker who has given numerous presentations on war trauma and led workshops in English and Italian to university students, high school students and the public. In 2024 Dianna served as Assistant Director for the Leopardi Writing Conference hosted in Udine, Italy, where she has lived for the past twenty-four years. A native of California, she holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley and an MA in Clinical Psychology from JFK University.

Laura Thayer is a writer and art historian who has lived on the Amalfi Coast since 2007. Author of Moon Amalfi Coast and Moon Southern Italy, she has written widely on travel, history, and culture. She is currently co-writing a novel set on the Amalfi Coast (naturally!) with her mother as well as developing an essay collection on literary travelers to the Amalfi Coast, reflecting on how their journeys can guide us toward more thoughtful ways of experiencing the places we love. Ciao Amalfi: Substack & Instagram

Eva Gebhardt, of Czech-German origin, lives and works in Florence. A painter, poet and psychiatrist-psychotherapist, she has exhibited her work in Italy and abroad, was chosen as image testimonial by TIM and for jazz singer Marilena Paradisi’s CD cover. She performed at Rome Art Week and Per Appiam Festival. Author of a poetry collection with Ensemble, several books and scientific works, she teaches psychodynamic psychotherapy at Bios Psyche and works as an individual and group therapist.

Originally from California, Melinda Gallo has lived in Europe (France, England, and Italy) for most of her adult life, settling in Florence in 2004. Inspired by the city, she recently published Messages from Florence. The non-fiction work is part travelogue, part memoir, and part photography book, and is described as a “love letter” to the city of Florence, Italy, exploring how living there transformed the author’s approach to life. The work culminates in a simple, resonant truth, a whisper from the city that transformed her: “What you see is beauty. What you feel is love.” 

Francesca holds a Master’s degree in Education and French Literature and is currently pursuing certification in Proofreading from the CIEP. With experience in writing textbooks, editing, and ghostwriting, she brings a refined attention to language and detail to all her projects. Francesca is also developing a series of children’s manuscripts designed for religious audiences, combining her passion for storytelling and education to create meaningful, values-based literature for young readers.

Sylva Florence is an energetic healer specialized in Reiki and Shamanism, a podcast host (Magic, Medicine and Mayhem), a translator (EN-IT) and, of course, a writer. When she’s not at her desk creating or healing, Sylva can almost always be found outside exploring the world on foot or by bike. She calls herself a “permanent tourist” who lives in the countryside near Florence (as destiny would have it) with her husband and her cat.

Carol Faenzi bought a one-way ticket to Italy to take a lengthy sabbatical from a busy corporate career in New York City, to which she did not return. This led her to writing a historical novel, The Stonecutter’s Aria, based on her marble-carving, opera-singing Tuscan immigrant ancestors. She presented programs and workshops helping people preserve their family stories and rituals throughout the United States. Since 2013, she has been taking Beauty Seekers on very small group, luxury travel excursions, The Aria Tour of Tuscany. (mytuscanaria.com) She splits her time between Indianapolis, Indiana and Florence. In Indianapolis, she is the President of the Italian Heritage Society of Indiana, as well as owner (along with her husband, Fine Artist Lloyd Brooks) of Urban Renaissance Studio and Gallery.

Sandrine Kom is a Slow Life Strategist, founder of the I Have Time™ Movement and creator of the Slow Life Leadership Method™. Based in Florence, she works internationally with leaders, teams, and individuals to release the “pressure cooker” of modern time culture. Through her writing, talks, and retreats, she opens new ways to think, decide, and live with clarity and quiet power – inviting a conversation that feels both fresh and necessary.

Renee Colombo is an American writer from California, now living in Italy, where she has spent the past seven years full-time. With a background in nonprofit work, administration and real estate, she brings a rich varied perspective to her writing. She is currently working on a crime thriller and is fully immersed in the creative process.

Alessia Gentile is a PhD student in English Literature at the University of Florence, where she also completed a specialization in Print and Digital Publishing in 2023. In 2024-2025 she held a research fellowship in English language at the University of Ferrara. She is a member of the editorial boards of LEA – Lingue e Letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente, Studi irlandesi. A Journal of Irish Studies, and JEMS. Journal of Early Modern Studies. Her research interests include English literature, manuscript studies, digital humanities, and the history of the book and publishing.

Martha Clarke is an international astrologer, author and artist. Writing has always
come naturally, and while growing up in a multi cultural house in Dublin, she found
nightly solace in journalling. When living in the USA, she was an active member of the Provincetown Playwright’s Lab, Truro Memoir Group, and PDX Portland Writers group. Her first book “Venus Pluto, Letters to Lost Lovers” waspublished in May 2022. She is currently working on her second novel. Website – www.marthaclarkeastrology.com

Angela is a writer of “compelling and extensively-researched” historical fiction. Now retired, her professional background included 27yrs in clinical cardiology and 15yrs as a university lecturer, but her keen interest in the art and history of the Italian Renaissance sowed the seed for her first book, The Rose of Florence (2023), followed by Hiding the Flame (2025). She lives in Cardiff, UK, visiting Florence whenever she can. Facebook: Angela M Sims – Author (@angelamsimsauthor) Instagram: angelamsims1. Website: https://angelamsims.co.uk