Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli effortlessly weaves and challenges our notions of culture, romance, and identity smoothly throughout her captivating new book of short stories, Pigeon Soup & Other Stories. It also had the honour of being a finalist for The 2021 American Book Fest Best Book Awards. Battigelli is the award-winning author of an historical fiction novel, La Brigantessa, two children’s books, and several Harlequin Novels. Sit down and dive into each of these stories just like a comforting bowl of homemade soup.
Have you always written short stories, or was this a new process for you?
I’ve written many short stories since the 1990s. Some are stories for children, and others are fiction or creative nonfiction for adults. I’ve recently started writing flash fiction and would like to do more of that.
What could you do in these stories that you couldn’t do in a novel?
In a short story, you capture pivotal moments or experiences/conflicts in a character’s life that lead to a resolution of some kind, or an awareness/acceptance of a problem that cannot be resolved fully, or simply a new understanding about life. A novelist can employ 80,000 words or more to weave a tale, whereas a short story writer can present the essence of a situation and its denouement in a distilled process using anywhere from 1500 to 7500 words, usually.
All of the stories will feel so familiar to many people. Are they based on things you’ve experienced?
As a writer, you draw on life, on what you may have heard or seen in the news, or you might take a kernel of truth from your own experience to draw upon in the creation of your fictional story. The familiarity within the stories occurs because of common themes in life that we are aware of, even if they haven’t happened to us personally. Bullying, for example. We’ve heard about it or seen it happen in school settings, in the workplace, in films, etc. The “kernel of truth” in my story “Alligator Shoes” is that when I was young, shoes that had a faux alligator look were gifted to me. I recalled that some kids made fun of them. From this memory, I decided to create a story where teasing and bullying went much farther, impacting not only the targeted character, but her family, friends, and community. A kernel of truth – and it could be anybody’s kernel – can become the springboard for the development of a completely fictional story, and one that resonates with readers because of their own experiences or simply because it touches them emotionally.
Which story would you like to see turned into a film and who would you see as actors?
I would like to see “Pigeon Soup” turned into a film, because it’s actually an excerpt of a longer story. It involves two students – Angelo and Norm – who become disenchanted with university and apply to volunteer in an international earthquake relief program in Italy in the 1970s. They encounter a number of challenges and culture shocks throughout their journey and time in Italy, while also dealing with emotional back-stories. Actors to portray them? Hmm, lol, I’ll need to do more research to find actors whom I could see assuming the role of blue-eyed Italian-Canadian Angelo and his anxious, bespectacled roommate Norm.
Which is the story that gets the most reader reactions and why?
“Alligator Shoes” is one of the stories that evokes strong reader reactions, such as feelings of empathy for the character who is bullied, and shock at the story’s conclusion.
How did your Italian background inform the stories in this collection?
As an Italian immigrant arriving in Canada with my family when I was three, and having grown up experiencing both cultures, I’ve created characters in my fictional stories who, as indicated in the preface of the book, “are embroiled in situations that test their limits when it comes to each other, outsiders, and themselves. They are navigating relationships and grappling with issues of translocation, language and identity, religion and culture, and food.” I have written these stories from the point of view of both Italian and non-Italian characters.
Your story, “The Hawk”, is told in 2nd person. Why did you choose to do this?
Sometimes you have to challenge yourself as a writer to try a different style or approach when developing a storyline. Because this story, envisioned as a folktale, has elements of magic realism, I felt that weaving it in the 2nd person would imitate the way adults might recount a story to a child, spinning and embellishing it as they went along.
How have you managed as a writer during this pandemic?
I’ve lost track of the virtual readings I’ve done in the past two years, not only from Pigeon Soup & Other Stories, but also from my historical novel La Brigantessa (Inanna, 2018). I’ve also been a guest author for Reading Series (Word Up Barrie and Conspiracy of 3), where I’ve read from my above-mentioned books, as well as from my romance fiction (I have five books published by Harlequin/Mills & Boon, some of which have been translated into Italian, German, and French.) I’ve also read from my works at virtual meetings of the AICW (Association of Italian-Canadian Writers) and IAWA (Italian American Writers Association: Boston and New York City Literary Series). I’ve done virtual school presentations for Kindergarten classes through The Writers’ Union of Canada National Public Readings Program (with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts), featuring my children’s book Pumpkin Orange, Pumpkin Round (Pajama Press, 2019, 2020). I have been invited as a guest author at a number of virtual book club meetings, and I’ve also done podcast interviews, both for the Canadian Authors Association and the Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival Podcast Series. I continue to participate in weekly virtual writing groups with AICW membersAnd when I’m not doing any of the above, I am working on other writing projects and trying to balance everything with family life!
What advice do you have for writers trying to write short stories?
My advice is to read many short story collections from Canadian writers, American writers, and international writers. Read award-winning collections. Read books on craft, and about writing short fiction. Write stories and submit to contests and anthologies. Go to writing conferences and join a writing group to build confidence, knowledge, and support. Believe in yourself and keep writing!
What are you working on now?
I’m working on editing an earlier manuscript and doing research for another historical novel. Thanks for inviting me to participate in this interview! My website is www.rosannabattigelli.com.
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