Clio Velentza
Clio Velentza is the author of the gothic novel The Piano Room (2021).
Clio was born and lives in Athens, Greece. Her writing has frequently been published in anthologies and literary journals, most recently in Popshot Quarterly, in both English and her native Greek. Her short fiction has won several prizes including Best Microfiction 2020, The Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions 2019 and The Best Small Fictions 2016. She was also a nominee for the Pushcart Prize. The Piano Room is her debut novel.
A short Q&A with Clio Velentza can be read below:
How did you start writing?
I wrote my first short story at about nine, which was followed then by a poem and an unfinished play. I wrote fanfiction for a while, but I didn’t get really into writing my own things until I was fifteen. School seemed really restrictive at the time but my evening English lessons became an outlet for creative freedom, and I started turning my essays and vocabulary exercises into stories, much to the surprise of my teachers. This was when writing in the English language became a special place for me, something that I still feel.
I kept on writing through university (where I was studying Chemistry), in an unhurried and self-indulgent way. I had no thought of publication or showing anyone my work, and enjoyed exploring styles and teaching myself as best I could. It was years until I decided to submit something to a contest, and a few more of learning and studying and experimenting until I submitted to a magazine.
What does writing mean to you?
It’s a part of me. Stories, journaling, lists – anything, really. Having pencil and paper close to me makes me feel safe. When I’m not writing for a long time, I’m out of synch with the world and myself. It’s a way of making sense of things, of finding meaning and interconnectedness.
If you could describe The Piano Room in one word, what would it be?
Haunted.
Read the full interview with Clio here.
Twitter