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Rating: My girlfriend lives in Tina, a small hamlet of Vestignè; a tiny place made up of a few houses around a church and scattered among cornfields.
But that's not really relevant, although it's always nice to highlight coincidences as if we've discovered something significant.
What is relevant is that "'Tina" is also the online fanzine created by Matteo B. Bianchi.
One of the many manifestations of Bianchi's activities, who is also a television author, as he was on the radio ("Dispenser" on Radio Due RAI), a reviewer (on "Linus" Shorts (reviews) and Laboratorio Esordienti (stories)), and a writer of four novels.
His articles can also be found in "Rolling Stone" and "D di Repubblica".
"'Tina" has an editorial form, free and unpretentious, which is the manifestation of a genuine passion.
It's an independent publication that has no fixed schedule, using common santo cards with changing backgrounds as illustrative graphics, and publishes stories by explicit request of Bianchi and, occasionally and depending on quality, selected from those that are sent in.
Even though they belong to different geographies, the "Tina" of Vestignè and the "'Tina" of the web are places I love both for what they represent symbolically and for what they contain.
So here's a little interview with Matteo B. Bianchi.
-Introduce yourself, what's your name, how old are you, and what are you currently doing?
I am Matteo B. Bianchi, I'm forty-four years old, I'm a writer and television author. In October, my new novel, "Apocalisse A Domicilio", will be released by publisher Marsilio. Currently, on TV, I work as an author for the show "Victor Victoria" on La7.
-Your magazine was born in '96, right? What differences do you find compared to back then, for better or worse? What difficulties have you encountered?
My magazine "'Tina" started as a fanzine and only later transformed into an online literary magazine. The main difference compared to the beginning concerns the practical aspects: when it was in print, it involved a certain amount of manual effort that has now disappeared. Before, in addition to taking care of the content of the magazine, I also had to photocopy it, staple it, and mail it. Now, thanks to the help of a collaborator who is a web graphic designer, I just need to select the materials and put them online. I can therefore focus entirely on the quality of the stories I publish and not on the practical aspects.
Moreover, since "'Tina" has been on the web, I decided I would ignore the number of readers it could have. That's why there's a fake counter on the site, perpetually stuck at number one. I want to create a magazine for the pleasure of doing it and continue to adhere to this intent.
I've never encountered any difficulty in making the magazine because it is entirely self-produced.
-Who are your favorite authors, or rather those you truly love, among the classics and contemporaries and why?
I don't read, so I don't love the classics at all. Why? Because I am a contemporary. There is too much happening right now for me to deceive myself into also recovering the past. I prefer to focus on the here-and-now. My favorite artist is John Waters (who is a director, an essay writer, and a conceptual artist). A sort of spirit guide, although he is still very much alive. Among writers, I really love Douglas Coupland, Jonathan Ames, and the authors published by the American magazine McSweeney's (my favorite literary magazine in the world).
-There have been twenty-three issues of "'Tina": each one averages about five stories. You've written and write reviews. You have also written two plays and several novels.
So, what is your relationship with writing?
An intense and very lively relationship. I spend my days on the laptop writing, but rarely about the same thing. I alternate reviews, stories, television scripts, newspaper articles, screenplays. I can't concentrate on a single project; I get bored. I need to switch often, possibly several times even during the same day.
-What are the most common mistakes you encounter when reading stories by aspiring writers?
The anxiety of having to explain too much, of providing an excessive amount of information immediately.
The main advice I repeat in the writing courses where I teach is: "Trust the reader more". If a character appears in a story, it's more interesting for the reader to gradually discover who they are and what they do, rather than being overwhelmed with information about them.
A great American writer, Grace Paley, said that the most important thing for a reader is "not to understand everything". Let your story or novel generate curiosity in the reader, pose questions to them, so that they will keep thinking about it afterwards.
-What projects do you have for the future?
After the release of the new novel, in the following months, I will publish several stories, some in anthologies, others in individual editions for small publishers. It's been almost three years since my last book, and I don't want to let such a long time pass without being active as an author any longer.
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