Chiara Barzini

Last updated
Chiara Barzini
Born1979 (1979) (age 44)
Rome, Italy
Education
Occupation
  • writer
Children2

Chiara Barzini (born 1979) is an Italian writer known for her semi-autobiographical novel Things that Happened Before the Earthquake set in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles in the early 1990s. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Chiara Barzini was born in 1979 in Rome, Italy, the oldest child of film director Andrea Barzini and Stephania Barzini. [1] [2] Her grandfather was the Italian journalist and politician Luigi Barzini Jr. and her great grandfather was the Italian war correspondent, journalist, and pro-Fascist politician Luigi Barzini Sr. [2] When Barzini was 15 in 1994, she moved to the United States with her parents and younger brother, where the family lived in Van Nuys and she attended Van Nuys High School. [2] When her parents moved back to Italy in 1999, Barzini stayed in California and attended the University of California, Santa Cruz. Later she moved to Brooklyn, worked in Greenwich Village as a waitress, and studied creative writing at the City College of New York. [2]

Career

Barzini has worked as a writer on films, written short stories and magazine articles, and in 2017 published her first novel, Things that Happened Before the Earthquake, a coming of age roman a clef narrative set in the San Fernando Valley in the early 1990s. [2] [1] [3] [4] The novel, which received positive reviews from newspapers and magazines such as the New York Times [5] and Vogue, [3] is currently being adapted as a film by Robert Zemeckis. [6] She has been published in a wide variety of magazines including Noon, Bomb Magazine, the New Review of Literature, the Village Voice, Rolling Stone Italy, Italian Vanity Fair, and Marie Claire. [7]

Awards

In 2019 Barzini won the San Fernando Valley Award for Fiction from the Friends of the Library at California State University, Northridge. [8] [9]

Personal life

Barzini's partner is Luca Infascelli. [2] She has two children, Sebastiano and Anita. [1] Barzini's aunt is the Italian actress and model Benedetta Barzini. [10] [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern California</span> American geographic and cultural region

Southern California is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area and also the Inland Empire. The region generally contains ten of California's 58 counties: Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State University, Northridge</span> Public university in Los Angeles, California, U.S.

California State University, Northridge, is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students, it has the second largest undergraduate population as well as the third largest total student body in the California State University system, making it one of the largest comprehensive universities in the United States in terms of enrollment size. The size of CSUN also has a major impact on the California economy, with an estimated $1.9 billion in economic output generated by CSUN on a yearly basis. As of Fall 2021, the university had 2,187 faculty, of which 794 were tenured or on the tenure track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 Northridge earthquake</span> Earthquake in Los Angeles, California

The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment magnitude 6.7, blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximately 10–20 seconds, and its peak ground acceleration of 1.82 g was the highest ever instrumentally recorded in an urban area in North America. Shaking was felt as far away as San Diego, Turlock, Las Vegas, Richfield, Phoenix, and Ensenada. The peak ground velocity at the Rinaldi Receiving Station was 183 cm/s, the fastest ever recorded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Fernando Valley</span> Large populated valley in Los Angeles County, California, US

The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated areas and the incorporated cities of Burbank, Calabasas, Glendale, Hidden Hills, and San Fernando. The valley is well known for its iconic film studios such as Warner Bros. Studio and Walt Disney Studios. In addition, it is home to the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reseda, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood of Los Angeles in California, United States

Reseda is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1912, and its central business district started developing in 1915. The neighborhood was devoted to agriculture for many years. Earthquakes struck the area in 1971 and 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University Library, California State University Northridge</span> Academic library at California State University, Northridge

Jolene Koester is an American university administrator, economic board member, and author. She served as the 4th president of California State University, Northridge from July 2000 to December 2011, and as the interim Chancellor of the California State University system beginning in May 2022. Koester holds a Ph.D. in speech communication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Nuys station</span> Railway station in Van Nuys, California

Van Nuys station is an Amtrak and Metrolink train station in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, close to the nighborhood of Panorama City. Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, Amtrak's Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle, Washington, and Metrolink's Ventura County Line from Los Angeles Union Station to East Ventura stop here.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylmar/San Fernando station</span> Metrolink stop in the northeast San Fernando Valley

Sylmar/San Fernando station is a Metrolink rail station located in Sylmar, California, and adjacent to the city of San Fernando. It is served by Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line between Los Angeles Union Station and Lancaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedetta Barzini</span> Italian actress and model

Benedetta Barzini is an Italian photomodel, journalist, writer, educator, feminist. In the 1960s she made a brilliant career as a model in the United States, shooting for Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Ugo Mulas, Henry Clarke (photographer), Andy Warhol, became the first Italian on the cover of American Vogue and in 1965 Barzini's photograph graced the cover of the first issue of Italian Vogue, but by the end of the decade was disillusioned with the fashion world. Upon returning to Milan, she became a member of the Italian Communist Party and a radical feminist. Author of over 5 books, she lectured at three universities for twenty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northridge Hospital Medical Center</span> Hospital in Los Angeles, California, United States

Northridge Hospital Medical Center is a hospital in the Northridge district of Los Angeles, California, US. It is currently operated by Dignity Health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reseda Boulevard</span>

Reseda Boulevard, named Reseda Avenue until May 1929, is a major north–south arterial road that runs through the western San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady of the Valley</span> Church

Our Lady of the Valley is a large Catholic church and school located in the Canoga Park section of Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest parish in the western San Fernando Valley, having been established in 1921. When the parish was established, the western Valley was sparsely populated, and most of the 620 parishioners were involved in agriculture with livestock or walnut and orange groves. At the time of its formation, the parish's boundaries covered 400 square miles (1,000 km2) from the Pacific Ocean to the south, the Ventura County line to the west, White Oak Avenue to the east, and the Santa Susana Mountains to the north. In the years after World War II, the San Fernando Valley shifted from agriculture to residential communities, and the Catholic population also swelled. The 400 square miles (1,000 km2) served by Our Lady of the Valley were carved up among nine sister parishes. Though its territory has been reduced to four square miles, the parish has grown from 620 parishioners to over 4100 families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owensmouth Line</span> Former Pacific Electric interurban service

The Owensmouth Line was a Pacific Electric interurban service that connected the San Fernando Valley to Downtown Los Angeles. The route was largely developed as the result of real estate speculation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sabina Magliocco</span> American folklorist

Sabina Magliocco, is a professor of anthropology and religion at the University of British Columbia and formerly at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). She is an author of non-fiction books and journal articles about folklore, religion, religious festivals, foodways, witchcraft and Neo-Paganism in Europe and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owensmouth</span> Former city in Los Angeles

Owensmouth was a town founded in 1912 in the western part of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California. Owensmouth joined the city of Los Angeles in 1917, and was renamed Canoga Park on March 1, 1931. Owensmouth was named for the 1913 Owens River aqueduct's terminus in current Canoga Park.

Samantha Dirks is a Belizean sprinter. She competed in the women's 400 metres at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. Dirks also competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women's 400 metres, where she placed 7th in her heat and did not advance to the semifinals. Her time, 54.16 seconds, was a season best for her, but she said afterward that she had been hoping for a better time. She was one of two flag bearers for Belize in the opening ceremony.

Louis Posen is an American, Los-Angeles-based, record producer and the founder of both Hopeless Records and Sub City Records. Posen is known as the “Paul Newman of punk rock” for his philanthropic efforts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilar Schiavo</span> American politician

Pilar Schiavo is an American politician, nurse advocate, and labor activist currently serving in the California State Assembly representing the western San Fernando Valley, including Santa Clarita, Northridge, Chatsworth, Porter Ranch, and Granada Hills in California's 40th State Assembly district.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 DiMercurio, Catherine, ed. (2019). Contemporary Authors (Vol. 419). Farmington Hills: Cengage Gale.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ermelino, Louisa (June 5, 2017). "Under the California sun: in her debut novel, Things that Happened Before the Earthquake, Chiara Barzini tells a bittersweet story of transformation and discovery". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Mechling, Lauren (August 15, 2017). "A Feverish, Unflinching Look at Coming-of-Age in 1990s Los Angeles". Vogue. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  4. ↑ Shia, Jonathan (August 28, 2017). "Chiara Barzini on Growing up Italian in Nineties Los Angeles". The Last Magazine. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  5. ↑ Maslin, Janet (May 26, 2017). "Escape Into Books". New York Times.
  6. ↑ Montebello, Valeria (May 15, 2020). "Chiara Barzini: A Wild Life". Klat Magazine. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Alumni Highlights". UC Santa Cruz Creative Writing. University of California, Santa Cruz. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  8. ↑ "San Fernando Valley Award: Fiction | Oviatt Library". library.csun.edu. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Chiara Barzini Named Recipient of 2019 San Fernando Valley Award for Fiction". CSUN Today. California State University, Northridge. August 1, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  10. ↑ Barzini, Chiara (October 16, 2018). "New York's unreciprocated love for Benedetta Barzini". Document Journal. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  11. ↑ Barzini, Chiara (June 2015). "Valley Girl". Vogue.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.