People

Two Words with Barbara Bordigato
Born in Piacenza and raised partly in the Treviso area, Barbara Bordigato is the daughter of a pilot and has led a life in constant motion. From working as a nanny and waitress in the UK, to flying long-haul routes as a flight attendant, to advising on beauty products across Italy and later working in advertising in Milan, each experience has shaped her voice as a writer. Through it all, writing remained her true north — not as a pastime, but as a deep, personal calling.

Her debut novel, Noi più di ieri (Us More Than Yesterday), published by Readaction Editrice in 2024, is a moving, multi-voiced story set in the social fabric of Italy’s northeast during the 1960s and '70s. With vivid, essential prose and characters inspired by real people from small towns, the novel explores family secrets, existential questions, and the eternal tension between truth and appearance.
We asked Barbara about her inspiration, her characters, and what comes next.

Your debut novel, Noi più di ieri, is steeped in the atmosphere of post-war Italy. What drew you to set the story in the 1960s and '70s?
Barbara Bordigato:Those years have always fascinated me. It was a time of optimism and upheaval — post-war reconstruction mixed with vibrant social movements. There was a strong sense of contrast, a kind of analog three-dimensionality made of light and shadow, emotion and waiting. I find that era full of tension and wonder, and it offered the perfect backdrop to explore the ambiguity of appearances, the complexity of family dynamics, and the search for identity. That’s what my characters are ultimately doing: searching, often unknowingly, for who they really are.

Your characters feel incredibly authentic, as if they've lived real lives. How did you develop them?
Barbara Bordigato:They were born from memory, observation, and imagination. Some came from people I met during summers in the Veneto — in cafés, after school, chasing mint popsicles or Panini stickers. Others were shaped by the gossip of housemaids in Emilia’s big kitchens, rich with the smells of brodo di terza and river air. I started with the idea of directing their actions, but they quickly took on lives of their own. I discovered them as I wrote them — and in telling their stories, I found pieces of myself.

 What’s next for you? Do you already have another novel in mind?
Barbara Bordigato:Yes — I’d like to dedicate time and energy to a new project: a more classic novel about a simple woman with an extraordinary life, set between the 1930s and late 1990s, moving between Romagna and France. For now, I’m enjoying promoting Noi più di ieri in local bookstores, connecting with readers. I love being among people, moving through the shelves, talking face-to-face. That kind of exchange fills me with joy.

Particular sign? “Cultivating gratitude,” Barbara smiles. A quiet reminder that storytelling — like life — begins with attention, empathy, and presence.