Oftentimes, people ask me what is the "muse," the inspiration of my creative work and whether I need to be thinking about or to stare at this muse while I am writing. Though we know that some of our most famous poets (I am thinking now about Dante or Petrarca, for example) did have a muse of their own to write their most beautiful and articulated rhymes, the inspiration can come from different sources. Just look around, listen carefully, read the newspapers (Giovanni Verga's famous Cavalleria rusticana was inspired by a newspaper article), pay attention to all the people and the events that are around you, imagine their possible stories, go back to your childhood, your hometown (if you have the chance read Richard Hugo's Triggering Town). Everything and anything can be your writing inspiration. Have fun with it. It does not have to be exactly as you see it or hear it; I am sure that your childhood memories have morphed from their original version; the names, the geographies can be different, made-up (I am sure you know of Andrea Camilleri's Vigata). If you carry it in your mind and heart, you will eventually free it and express it. My inspiration is mostly my beautiful island of Sicily, the place where I was born, treasure trove of millions of stories; a fascinating and fertile ground of entangled events and complex personalities. It is a perennial resource, an overflowing reservoir.
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