Arianna Petrelli

I'm a writer and author from Milan, currently living in the UK, where I'm studying English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. My first book "Ethereal" came out in Italy in 2020.

About Me

I'm a writer and author from Milan, currently living in the UK, where I'm studying English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. My first book "Ethereal" came out in Italy in 2020.

My Work

An Artist’s Guide on How to Be Everyone, Nobody and Both

Short story and critical essay. Submitted as BA dissertation in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham (2024).
Themes: AI, art, capitalism.

The Botanist

Short story. Written in April 2024.
Themes: female rage, rape, domestic abuse.

Mare Nostrum (in 'Landscape with the fall of Icarus')

Poem. Written in October 2023.
Themes: Art, immigration, greek mythology.

Crimson Stains on Cotton White Sheets

Short Story. Written in May 2023.
Themes: Insomnia, anti-capitalism.

She couldn’t remember how to do it. How to close her eyes.
She couldn’t tell when, exactly, sleeping had become – like eating healthy homemade meals, going to the gym, or taking a walk in the park – a privilege. And also, she had decided, it was extremely unnecessary (...)

My Starbucks date and the subtle difference between /ɹ/ and /r/

Poem. Written in December 2022.
Themes: Language, Identity.

We wait in line for our coffees
and that’s when you ask me why I don’t pronounce my name properly (...)

The Threefold Denial of Maddalena Amato

Short story. Written in December 2021
Themes: Identity, queer guilt, religious trauma.

This country is too fucking cold.
"I told you" Mel laughs. She has that lazy smile on her face, half-cleft eyelids and lips stained with gin. "'I'm from Northern Italy' she said. 'I won't suffer the cold' she said. Well, joke's on you." (...)

How to break up with your best friend

Prose poem. Written in December 2022.
Themes: Anxiety, trauma.

We need to talk. You don’t like talking. Actually. I don’t like talking. Because of you. You do all the talking. All the time. Never give me a fucking break. “What now” you say. This is not working. “It’s working great for me” you say. Because my pain is feeding you. That’s the whole point. (...)

Bella Ciao

Sonnet. Written in December 2022.
Themes: Anti-fascism, patriotism.

I’m glad my grandad died.
He was there when trains were always on time (...)

The Air Year, by Caroline Bird: an anti-fairytale kind of love and the tragedy of getting old

Book review. Written in April 2022.

My biggest vice as a reader is getting into books without knowing anything about them beforehand. Most of the times they end up meeting what my personal preconceptions were to begin with. Sometimes I get disappointed. And, sometimes, it results in reading the first few poems of a collection thinking that it’ll be all about queer love and romantic scenarios, and then suddenly a woman is masturbating on a torpedo in the middle of the wood and you realize “actually, let’s see where this is going…” (...

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