We are proud to present our Smiling High School 13th grade student Ottavia De Vivo, author of the book La principessa guerriera e il libro segreto, Mondadori, 2021.

Ottavia was interviewed for the new column #SmilingInterviews by some students of Smiling High School: her classmate Sofia and her friends Giovanni and Marvin, who attend 12th grade.

In the video the author tells us how her novel transports the reader into a fantasy world, keeping in touch with the actual world, through various contemporary references and setting it in a real location, very special for us: OUR SCHOOL.

Yes, Ottavia has chosen Smiling International School as the setting for her first literary debut.

Watch the interview at the following link and listen to the author describing how Palazzo Gulinelli, site of Smiling High Schools, inspired her story.

We would like to thank Sofia Gulmini for interviewing Ottavia; Giovanni Ambrosini @_thedreamwalker and Marvin Arlt @marvs.snaps for producing and post-producing the whole video.