 |
| Photo courtesy of Calabria: the Other Italy |
The day has come. Basilicata: Authentic Italy, my new book about the unassuming region in the instep of the Italian boot is available! Years of planning, in-person research (the best part!), writing and production elements, and then, the date sort of sneaks up on you.
Why Basilicata?
I set out to explore Basilicata with a purpose. After writing Calabria: The Other Italy, which grew out of several years living in the region in the toe of the boot, people asked me, “What’s next?” I thought and thought. Conventional publishing would have directed me to add to the shelves of books about Rome, Venice or Florence. That’s what sells, after all. But I wanted to continue my exploration of the lesser known, the underrated.
Basilicata is Calabria’s northern neighbor. They share Italy’s largest national park, the Pollino. I had been to Matera, the City of the Sassi, which I included in my Calabria book and which has gradually become a destination for in-the-know travelers to Southern Italy. But what about the rest of the region?
Before visiting, I looked at the map and reasoned that I should be able to more or less cover such a small region in a brief 150 pages. Then I began visiting the villages and the larger towns, going to festivals, meeting the people, sampling the cuisine and reading what was available. I realized that I had taken on a major project. Continue reading
