Bianca Pitzorno: Imagination and Feminism

Bianca Pitzorno was born in Sassari, Italy in 1942, and after earning a degree in Classical Literature with a thesis on Prehistoric Archaeology, and her masters in Cinema and Television, Pitzorno started a seven-year collaboration with the Italian state-owned broadcaster RAI as head of the production of cultural programmes for the young audience in 1970. Included among her most famous programmes are: Il Dirodorlando, Sapere, Tuttilibri, Chissà chi lo sa? and L’Albero Azzurro, which is still broadcast today. Pitzorno now lives and works in Milan, and has published numerous books for children.

In 1970, Pitzorno’s first picture book for young readers, Il Grande Raduno dei Cow Boys, was published in Switzerland, and was also her first book to be published in a foreign language. In 1973, Pitzorno published Sette Robinson su un’Isola Matta, which represents an ironic parody of adventure novels. Just a year after, in 1974, one of her first big literary successes, Clorofilla dal Cielo Blu [Chlorophyll from the Blue Sky], came out as a clear example of the self-styled “fanta-ecologic novel”, a genre that combines fantastic and supernatural elements with the main theme of ecology and environmental problems. Clorofilla dal Cielo Blu also became very popular abroad. For instance, when it was translated into Polish, the book inspired a radio programme, while in Switzerland it gave rise to an animated cartoon. During the 1970s, Pitzorno started to write song lyrics used as signature tunes on television as well as in theatre.

Throughout her long career, Pitzorno has written more than 40 books to date, and she deals with many controversial and complex issues, ranging from diversity and childhood, to a multitude of environmental, social and political problems (for instance, pollution, political corruption, social class, and race). Although her books range over such a wide variety of topics, the plot has always remained imaginative, stylish, and amusing. Nevertheless, Pitzorno notes that while the subjects she has been interested in and her writing style have changed over time, keeping her focus on female characters the only constant element in her many stories. Girls are indeed the only characters of Pitzorno’s books that seem to tackle the problems involved with being a woman, a girl, or a little girl, in contemporary society, as well as in the past. Pitzorno, a left-wing feminist, is considered to have created a new season of literature for children and young readers focusing on female children or young girls who have complex personalities and are the main characters of the stories.

The peculiar characterization of those in her stories and of their personalities is one of Bianca Pitzorno’s hallmarks, and might also be considered one of the reasons for her popularity. Pitzorno usually tells her great and imaginative stories orally before writing them down with vivid detail, and these stories often include troubling narrative elements, such as suffering and death. These aspects are not eliminated or softened because, according to Pitzorno, they are a part of everyone’s lives, lives that are complex and complicated. Even childhood should not be considered a “carefree period” as it is usually depicted, because these sad realities exist in children’s lives as well. An example of this includes the work Principessa Laurentina [Princess Laurentina], which describes the powerful emotions connected with adolescence and family difficulties.

These great qualities have rendered Pitzorno one of the most successful Italian authors for children. According to Pitzorno herself, her books are this popular, especially among young readers, because she has always aimed at writing timeless stories, which include disparity between people both weak and strong and the arrogance of the latter, along with the struggle of the weak to become free of their ailments. Another reason for her great success among the younger generations may be due to the fact she has always considered their pain worthy enough to be described, and she also uses irony in order to render it as important as adults’ pain.

Another of Pitzorno’s hallmarks is the clear handling of a number of taboos not...