CALÌ VELELA, FROM ITALY TO INDIA: A VOICE AGAINST INVISIBLE WOUNDS

Literary awards, Milan Design Week, a new book and her participation in IMMERSIVE VOICES: the Italian author’s work crosses the boundaries between psychology, literature and rebirth

There are wounds that leave no marks on the skin. Calì Velela has chosen to write about them. Today, her voice is beginning to travel beyond Italy’s borders.

With a degree in Clinical and Community Psychology and eighteen years of previous registration with the Professional Register in the Emilia-Romagna Region, Calì Velela is today a writer and communicator working at the intersection of psychology and literature.

At the heart of her writing lie the less visible dynamics of violence: psychological manipulation, the gradual loss of self-determination, isolation, silence and the fragmentation of identity. Yet her work does not stop at the wound itself. Above all, it seeks the moment when a person begins to recognise themselves again.

Her new book, Ho ballato con il diavolo (I Danced with the Devil), published in 2026 by Pegasus Edition, is an epistolary memoir built around a true story of violence, loss and rebirth. Through its protagonist, Estella, and a correspondence that gradually brings the fragments of a life back together, the book leads readers into the most intimate dimensions of abuse, survival and resilience.

Calì Velela’s literary journey has already received significant recognition.

With La Rishika – colei che vede dove nessuno guarda (La Rishika – She Who Sees Where No One Looks), she won Third Prize in the Unpublished Fiction section of the International Juan Montalvo Literary Art Prize.

The same work also received the Special Prize for a Book Outside Competition at the 8th International Literary Award Carità è Donarsi.

A further recognition connected to La Rishika followed at the 9th edition of the 2026 International Poetry and Literature Prize Isola d’Elba – Ascoltando i silenzi del mare.

The title itself contains an essential part of Velela’s poetics: seeing where others do not look, recognising what remains submerged, and giving words to experiences too often lived in silence.

Calì Velela has also appeared on one of Italy’s most important cultural stages.

In April 2026, during Milan Design Week, she was among the guests at Custode, an event by 03STUDIO LAB held at the historic Rotonda della Besana and dedicated to USIC – Unione Sindacale Italiana Carabinieri.

She was joined by Dr. h.c. Milena Renzi, writer, journalist and international cultural communicator, and architect and poet Rodolfo Vettorello, a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2020.

The evening brought together art, design, literature and music, with performances by countertenor Angelo Bonazzoli, accompanied on piano by Mateus Gardellini.

That Milan experience has become another stage in a cultural path that is now continuing in the prestigious setting of Brera.

Calì Velela and Dr. h.c. Milena Renzi are currently developing the cultural and educational project La violenza che non lascia lividi (The Violence That Leaves No Bruises), created to address psychological violence without sensationalising it or reducing violence solely to physical aggression.

The project explores the “sloping path” through which trust can become imbalance, manipulation can lead to isolation, and fear can result in the loss of self-determination — before moving towards recognition, the recovery of one’s voice and, ultimately, reconstruction.

Velela’s books thus become part of a broader cultural project in which literature and psychological knowledge can serve as tools for awareness and prevention.

Now, a new chapter is taking her writing beyond national borders.

Calì Velela is among the poetic voices selected for IMMERSIVE VOICES – Poems of Sensitivity and Sublimity, a new international anthology promoted by the International Academy of Ethics – IAE, an India-based institution fostering dialogue between ethics, education, literature and the arts.

The International Academy of Ethics is led by Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, Founder President, an internationally recognised Indian poet, philosopher and author, together with Dr. Maja Herman Sekulic, Vice President, poet and scholar of international standing.

Its international cultural network also includes Greek poet and author Eva Lianou Petropoulou, World Ambassador of the International Academy of Ethics, India, whose commitment to international literature has helped create meaningful connections between writers, poets and cultural figures from different nations.

A special and heartfelt acknowledgment goes to Eva Lianou Petropoulou for the passion, generosity and tireless cultural work through which she continues to build bridges between people, countries and traditions. Her ability to bring together voices from different parts of the world has made possible encounters that go far beyond geographical borders, creating genuine spaces for dialogue, friendship and cultural exchange.

Through her work for the International Academy of Ethics and her wider commitment to international literature, Eva has become a vital link between different cultures. Calì Velela and Dr. h.c. Milena Renzi wish to express their deepest gratitude to her for believing in the value of these connections and for helping Italian voices enter an increasingly broad international conversation.

IMMERSIVE VOICES is edited by Dr. h.c. Milena Renzi, writer, journalist and international cultural communicator, with Dr. Jernail Singh Anand serving as Chief Editor.

The anthology brings together poets from different countries and cultures, united by a form of poetry that speaks to sensitivity, the human condition, shared values and the challenges of contemporary life.

For Calì Velela, participation in the anthology also marks a new stage in her own journey: from narrative prose to poetry, from Italy to India, and from individual experience to international literary dialogue.

Her voice thus enters a cultural community that sees literature as a means of crossing geographical, linguistic and social boundaries.

Awards, books, cultural encounters and new international collaborations tell only part of Calì Velela’s story.

The thread running through all her work remains something deeper: giving a voice to what often remains unseen.

Recognising manipulation before it becomes a prison. Giving a name to one’s own experience. Transforming silence into awareness. And remembering that, even after losing oneself, a path back to one’s identity can still exist.

From La Rishika to Ho ballato con il diavolo, from Milan to India through IMMERSIVE VOICES, Calì Velela is now taking her writing into an international dimension, making literature not only a means of telling the story of a wound, but also a tangible possibility for rebirth.

An Italian voice that has chosen to look where others often do not — and that is now ready to be heard beyond every border.