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Dear Readers,

Every birthday invites us to take stock, to measure the distance between who we once were, who we have become, and who we still wish to be. Yet time, as we experience it, does not always move at the same pace.

There are years that seem to add decades to our lives, when events take unexpected turns and life appears to slip beyond our control. Others restore an energy we thought we had lost, a renewed curiosity, and the feeling that more possibilities lie ahead than we had ever imagined.

Today is my birthday and, with gratitude, this is one of those years when I feel myself growing younger.

I am surprised to realise that many of the things I love most are the very same things that fascinated me as a young girl: poetry, art, dance, singing, movement. The desire to create, to express something, to share an experience with others.

A certain intensity has remained, too, something those who know me well sometimes observe with amusement: a deep dedication to whatever I undertake, a stubborn discipline, an eagerness to embrace life that shows no sign of diminishing with age. It has accompanied me through changes in my life, different professions, countries, and very different seasons, some of them particularly difficult. At times, it has been exhausting, but I would never want to lose it.

When I began studying law in 1994, I was convinced, like so many young people, that I could change the world. Working in the field of new technology law allowed me to take part in significant transformations, at a time when the Internet was beginning to reshape society profoundly. Over the years, however, my understanding of what it means to leave a mark on the world has also evolved.

The most meaningful mark I will leave on the world will, of course, be through my children. But there are other ways of contributing to the lives of others. Today, I place particular value on the possibility that a poem, a book, or a work of art might reach someone at the very moment they need it. That it might give shape to an emotion not yet fully understood, suggest a different perspective, or occasionally help someone make a decision.

In this way, one person’s individual experience becomes part of another person’s life. This is one of the most extraordinary possibilities of art.

Blind Corners — Now Available

This birthday also coincides with the publication of my new poetry collection, Blind Corners.

The title evokes those aspects of our experience that escape our perception: the contradictions we struggle to recognise, the emotions we cannot quite name, the dimensions of reality that become visible only when we change our perspective.

The collection explores the complexities of human experience, relationships, time, and the many forms of self-knowledge. The cover features an original portrait by the painter Francesca Draetta, to whom I am grateful for accompanying this book with her art.

Buy Blind Corners

Through the many changes of life, poetry has remained a constant presence, a way of experiencing the world and seeking to understand it.

On this birthday, I would like to share with you a poem from this new collection that speaks precisely of this enduring relationship.

You Welcomed, Poetry

© Stefania Lucchetti, from Blind Corners

You welcomed, Poetry,
my sleepless nights,
my labyrinthine dreams,
the evening’s anguish,
the morning sun,
and each day’s newborn hope.

You numbered every room that sheltered me,
each continent I crossed:
sea-shores and city streets.

You wept beside me: in Italy’s courtyards,
on Colorado snow;
in the London Tube;
on the stairwells of Hong Kong’s heights;
inside the elegant vestibules of Milano’s palazzi.

You have upheld my soul through the travails of doing,
through too much change,
through coffees bitter and salvific.
My ravenous haste for life found respite, found a home
in the lucid candour of your truth.

And on this horizon that changes without changing, Poetry,
with you I have lived life inwardly, as thought,
and in your honest arms
I have deciphered reality.

Milan: The Living Presence of Art

Over the past few weekends, Milan has experienced demonstrations and tensions, with episodes of violence and destruction in the city centre.

While all this was unfolding, a group of us was performing in Nobiltà in scena, welcoming visitors into the magnificent halls of Palazzo Litta. At times, these Saturdays felt almost surreal, as though we were living in a parallel reality: dressed in period costumes, surrounded by the extraordinary beauty and splendour of an aristocratic palace, while outside the city was shaken by protests, shop windows were being smashed, and stores looted.

This striking contrast led me to reflect on the significance of what we were doing.

Art is also a form of cultural resilience. Opening the doors of our historical heritage and bringing it to life through theatre takes on even greater significance in times of tension. It means continuing to create opportunities for human connection, beauty, and participation, preserving a heritage that belongs to everyone and remains alive through those who experience and appreciate it.

Literary Awards

Afternoons of Suspended Love made the podium in the international poetry prize Città di Varallo

Stefania Lucchetti Academy

My Academy is now open, and its first course, Self-Discovery Through Poetry™, is live. Through readings, reflection and writing exercises, the course invites you to encounter poetry as a way of paying closer attention to your own experience. I would be delighted to welcome you. You can explore the course here.