Der neue Bereich unseres Portals macht es sich zum Anliegen, die internationalen Literaturszenen Berlins zu kartographieren, die handelnden Personen und ihre Schauplätze sichtbar und zugänglich zu machen. 
Die Entstehung der Rubrik wurde durch eine Förderung des Hauptstadtkulturfonds ermöglicht. 

Nicoletta Grillo

Author

© Gaia Vittoria Marturano

Profile

Born: 3.3.1971
Birthplace: Milan
Country of birth: Italy
Lives in: Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg


Language: Italian
Working language: Italian

Vita

Nicoletta Grillo, born in Milan, studied philosophy at the Università Statale in Milan. After receiving her diploma, she startet publishing articles in philosophical magazines and worked as a free journalist for daily and weekly newspapers in Italy.In 2000 she moved to Berlin where she continued working as a free journalist. She is additionally lecturing in Italian. From 2006 to 2010 she was writing her Ph.D thesis at the Humboldt University of Berlin which was published by Logos Verlag in 2011 under the title Der Engel und der Spiegel. Zur Philosophie Paul Valérys. She won the Italian Poetry Prize „Verba Agrestia“ in 2013, in the following year she published the poetry collection Lettere all’Amministrazione del condominio (Edizioni LietoColle) which was awarded the poetry prize “Città di Como” as the best debut in 2015. In February 2015, Nicoletta participates in the art project „Literatur auf dem Ring“: a writing marathon of 24 hours in Berlin’s Circle Line Ringbahn. In 2016, she published the plaquette Lange Zeit in collaboration with Béatrice Nicolas, including French and German translations (Verlag Raum Italic/Un zèbre sur la langue); in 2017, her poetry collection “La pioggia che cade ieri” was released by the Milanese publisher La vita Felice. Together with video artist Barbara Bernardi Nicoletta shot three video poems in 2015/16, winning a lot of prizes in Italy. The video poem Europa was screened during the exhibition Kosmopolis in Nantes. Apart from writing and working as a lecturer in Italian, Nicoletta is engaged in philosophy project for children, didactic activities at schools in Berlin and several workshops. She posts on a blog in Italian about life in Berlin on (www.berlinodavicino.wordpress.com) and about poetry on https://berlinpoetry.wordpress.com/

6 Questions

What do you love about Berlin?

The emptiness, the many empty spots. And the cultural life


What do you miss in Berlin?

The beauty of the landscape, this carefree beauty which is giving you the feeling, there is something else and something older than mankind.


What is your favorite spot in Berlin?

Wherever you find water


Would you say you are a different person in Berlin? A different translator? And if yes, in what way?

Yes, sure: I’m really sensitive to weather and probably, my poems would be more cheerful if I had written them someplace else. But seriously: Berlin is giving me the opportunity to get in touch with other artists from different countries, with different languages and from other genres.


Which existing literary work do you wish you had written?

Giuseppe Ungaretti, L'allegria

Awards

2015  Best debut at Conrocso internazionale di Letteratura Città di Como (Italy) for "Lettere all'amministrazione del condominio"
2016  Second for the poetry prize "Premio Casa Alda Merini", Milan for unpublished poetry.
2016  Winner for the video poem “Il tempo lungo” (lyrics: Nicoletta Grillo, director: Barbara Bernardi) at the Concorso internazionale di Letteratura Città di Cattolica.
2016  Winner for the video poem "Kairòs“ (lyrics: Nicoletta Grillo, director: Barbara Bernardi) at the Concorso internazionale di Letteratura Città di Como an Concorso di videopoesia Giuseppe di Lieto.

Work

Publications in german

Publications in original language

La pioggia che cade ieri.

La vita felice/Milano, 2017 Poetry

Lettere all'amministrazione del condominio

Lieto Colle, Faloppio, 2015 Lyrik