A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
A Writer in Italy is about travel, art and life. A place to share the travel journeys and the many discoveries along the way.
Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way.
Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal.
Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family.
Episodes
142 episodes
"Il mio maestro" and the Quintessence of Reading
"I am reading six books at once, the only way of reading: since, as you will agree, one book is merely a note to another book" - Virginia WoolfToday I share some beautiful moments while reading a few books on my table that have given muc...
Out on a Limb, the writer’s life….
"A soul's journey through this uniquely itchy epoch requires a far more nourishing approach" - Sarah Wilson, This One Wild and Precious Life Sometimes you cannot see the forest for the trees, but that is the writers life. It is a pr...
Rothko in Florence - The Liberation of Colour
“The large paintings envelop the viewer and invite him or her in, it is an invitation to a self contained world where one can lose oneself and perhaps in the process find oneself. And for all their grandest of scale it is an intimate e...
On Seeking Art & Beauty and Why it Really Matters!
"Fortunately for us art and travel lovers, science has caught up with what we have felt inside, what we have experienced" - Michelle JohnstonIn more recent years the science of ‘neuro-aesthetics’ has given us much to ponder in terms of u...
Cucina Classica - My favourite foodie moments in Italy
"Everything had been made honestly, quickly, without frills, but as it should be. It was wholesome, life giving...We had eaten well; we felt well. As we sat in the piazza inhaling our black half inches of double espressi, I felt very happy" - S...
Why if you are stuck in life or feel unappreciated, you should just go to Italy!
"Happiness is a byproduct ultimately of being in right relationship with your own soul” - James HollisWelcome to Episode #137: There are places in Italy that are so beautiful they make you want to weep. When life occasionally...
Bookshelf - Mamma Milano: Lessons from the Motherland by J.J.Martin
"Italy, you win!" - J.J Martin, Mamma MilanoWelcome to Episode #136:Today I share some inspiration from the book Mamma Milano by J.J Martin. J.J Martin is a visionary, creative and designer that lives in Milan. She mov...
Milan, North Star - Il Duomo, Navigli Grande, Trams, Fashion & Aperitivo Culture & More
"In Milan, one feels at once the charm of a great city and the sweetness of Italian life" - Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle)Welcome to Episode #134:Today I share some fabulous things to do if you are on a budget or just a savy travele...
Milan, North Star - The Last Supper, Museums, Villas, Culture & More
"Italians strongly believe that being surrounded by beauty is beneficial to a happier life" - Riccardo IllyWelcome to Episode #135,Milan is a city of Art, Design, Architecture, Innovation and Commerce. It is full of great art and ...
Tracey Emin at The Palazzo Strozzi in Florence - A Travel Story
"All I wanted was time" - Tracey Emin, Strozzi Gallery DocumentaryWelcome to Episode #133Today I share a travel story for International Women’s Day about a glorious art and life moment in Florence from 2025. There are...
A Travel Experience & Book Story on 'Let Them Theory'
"The let them theory is about freedom" - Mel Robbins, Let Them TheoryWelcome to Episode #132,I wanted to share this personal story of something that shifted in me in a great way to create an expansive and special experience while ...
The Birth of Venus & Musings on Life and Art
“The meaning of the river flowing is not that all things are changing so that we cannot encounter them twice but that some things stay the same only by changing” - Heraclitus, The Cosmic FragmentsWelcome to Episode #131,Today is j...
The Tarocchi Players - Renaissance Italy and the History of the Tarot
"Around the middle of the fifteenth century, not so long after the first written references in Europe to cards of any kind, an artist named Bonifacio Bembo painted a set of unnamed and unnumbered cards for the Visconti family of Milan", Origins...
A Small Act of Rebellion while the world goes Crazy!
"A book can never disappoint you" - Cinzia FerriWelcome to Episode #129:Just a little rumination about books and life as the new year arrives! Enjoy xThe Substack Post that inspired this podcast:
What I loved about Visiting Bologna!
“Bologna was unique in championing the professions of women. The home of Europe’s oldest university, which has supported female students since the thirteenth century, the city considered women artists integral to its development” - Katy Hessel,...
Italy - Healing for the Soul
"Live the journey as faithfully as you can" 💥James Hollis Welcome to Episode #127:A notebook from Bologna led me to contemplate the profound effect that Italy has had on my psyche these past few years. The journeys and ...
Pentimento - Artist's Lives, Reflections, Muse Italia
"I fall in love with places" - Cy TwomblyWelcome to Episode #126,While still reflecting on the life of Cy Twombly, I muse over a few artists that have been influenced by Italy (and my artistic process). There is just something abo...
Cy Twombly - Life and Art in Italy
"I am a Mediterranean painter" - Cy TwomblyWelcome to Episode #125:In 1952 Robert Rauschenberg photographed his friend and fellow artist Cy Twombly standing with a thin notebook next to Constantine’s colossal hand while on holiday...
Merchants & Vagabonds - Tales from Travel in Italy
“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure. You have no idea of what is in store for you, but you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go...
A Story about Family & Pizza with Erica D’Arcangelo
"There's just something about sitting at a cafe, and the food, and the culture that just, it's not like anything else in the world" - Erica D'ArcangeloWelcome to Episode #123,Today I share an enriching and beautiful conversation w...
Immersive Travel Experiences with Katerina Ferrara
"One summer morning, my husband, son, and I arrived by car from Sirmione and spent the day wandering through the city’s walkable center. Verona revealed itself slowly, with Roman ruins beside medieval churches, Renaissance palaces glowing in th...
Two Castles in Italy
"Perhaps my vision has been somewhat romantic but who out there has not been lured by an Arcadia unlike our own? It seems it has been a thing for centuries..." - Michelle Johnston, SubstackWelcome to Episode #121:Today I share a p...
Are you a Traveler or a Tourist?
"The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind" - Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations...
Buying a Holiday Home in Umbria with Jaclyn Beagley
"The money was always for a dream of sorts, an Italian dream, and now it's one we get to keep living" - Jac BeagleyWelcome to Episode #119:Many of us dreaming about a home in Italy, a place to enjoy la dolce vita. The big question...
