ABOUT
Valentina Acava, author, storyteller, activist, and educator.
She was born in Italy to Italian-Greek parents with links to the Greek-African Diaspora and raised in South Africa. She has lived a nomadic life ever since living across four continents. She is the author of nine books and numerous writings that span the genres of fiction, short stories, poetry, essays, journalism, and plays. Her writings have also appeared in Warscapes, Pambazuka, Africultures, Munyori, Alice, Stilos, Il resto del Carlino, Il Ponte, Mani Tese, Nigrizia, Scroll, and Il Tempo.
Her first novel Cercando Lindiwe is set in South Africa and in the diaspora in a span of time from the early ‘60s and 1994. The novel revolves around themes like exile, identity, the possibility or impossibility of return, apartheid, and activism.
Io…donna…immigrata… / I… immigrant… woman … has been on stage in various productions, since 2005. In 2021 a Zoom film was made out of the play and presented in several Short Film Festivals: Socially Relevant Film Festival, Il Cairo Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Stockholm Film Festival, and Harlem Film Festival. Trailer.
The Cut is a play that raises awareness about Female Genital Mutilation produced in 2012 out of an 8-month workshop with a South African collective of undocumented immigrant women from different African countries under the name Gugu Women Lab. It has received the support of Amnesty for its value of pinpointing the impact this practice has in the world using the language of art. On the same subject, she wrote the essay The Cut-Lo Strappo which is a detailed in-depth research about Female Genital Mutilation.
Valentina has taught Creative Writing Courses, among others, in correctional prisons, mental health facilities, immigration detention centers, and women's rescue centers. She uses different art media (writing, theater, tapestry, poetry) to raise awareness and encourage human expression through imagination and creativity.
In 2018 Valentina founded the artistic project Invisible Cities, which uses storytelling/theatre to connect communities and build a civic society with shared values. Invisible Cities is a visionary concept that leads to the idea that cities are made of hidden layers representing the dreams, ideals, visions, memories, and desires of their citizens regardless of where they come from and their status. Exposing these layers offers infinite possibilities for everyone to identify with the diverse “otherness” within a transnational frame.
Dialoghi Transnazionali-Transantional Dialogues is a workshop aiming to use storytelling to deconstruct the language normally used in public discourse when addressing cultural and socio political issues. The workshop aims to translate the diversity of our societies reinventing a new lexicon that works for an earthly diversified identity, inclusion, and sustainability.
Valentina Acava is also a progressive educator with 27 years of experience working with children all over the world teaching, inspiring, and empowering children and adults to create systematic change in their lives. She has an extended platform of inclusive multicultural workshops for children and youth and designs diverse educational programs based on Textile Storytelling with a focus on cultural and social issues.
Her books for children evoke Eastern African storytelling tradition exploring identity, memory, animism, conservationism, and diversity.
She currently teaches creative writing.
ABOUT
Valentina Acava was born in Italy to Italian parents of Greek origins, was raised in South Africa, and has lived a nomadic life ever since. She is the author of seven books and numerous writings that span the genres of fiction, short story, poetry, essay, journalism, and plays. Her writings have also appeared in Warscapes, Pambazuka, Africultures, Munyori, Alice, Stilos, Il resto del Carlino, Il Ponte, Mani Tese, Nigrizia, Scroll, and Il Tempo.
Her first novel Cercando Lindiwe is set in South Africa and in the diaspora in a span of time from the early ‘60s and 1994. The novel revolves around themes like exile, identity, the possibility or impossibility of return, apartheid, and activism.
Io…donna…immigrata… has been on stage in various productions, since 2005. In 2021 a zoom film was made out of the play and presented in several Short Film Festivals: Socially Relevant Film Festival, Il Cairo Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Stockholm Film Festival, and Harlem Film Festival. Trailer.
The Cut is a play that raises awareness about Female Genital Mutilation produced in 2012 out of an 8-month workshop with a collective of undocumented immigrant women from different African countries. It has received the support of Amnesty for its value of pinpointing the impact this practice has in the world using the language of art. On the same subject, she wrote the essay The Cut-Lo Strappo which is in-depth research about Female Genital Mutilation.
Valentina Acava is also a progressive educator with 27 years of experience working with children all over the world teaching, inspiring, and empowering children and adults to create systematic change in their lives. She designs diverse educational programs based on Storytelling and Art Making for educators and parents.
Her books for children evoke Eastern African storytelling tradition exploring identity, animism, conservationism, and diversity.
Valentina has taught Creative Writing Courses, among others, in correctional prisons, psychiatric clinics, immigration detention centers, and women's rescue centers. She uses different art media (writing, theater, tapestry, poetry) to raise awareness and encourage human expression through imagination and creativity.
In 2018 she founded the artistic project Invisible Cities, which uses storytelling to connect communities and build a civic society with shared values. Invisible Cities is a visionary concept that leads to the idea that cities are made of hidden layers representing their citizens' dreams, ideals, visions, memories, and desires, regardless of where they come from and their status. Disclosing these layers offers infinite possibilities for everyone to identify with the diverse “otherness” within a transnational frame.
Dialoghi Transnazionali-Transantional Dialogues is a workshop aiming to use storytelling to translate the diversity of our societies reinventing a new vocabulary that works for inclusion and sustainability.
She currently teaches creative writing in different institutions.