Paola Calvetti (born in Milan, 1958) is an Italian novelist and journalist. Personal life She was educated at Liceo Linguistico A. Manzoni (Languages School) and graduated in DAMS (Drama, Art and Music Studies) at Bologna University. Just after leaving school she wrote her first book Lo spazio fantastico (Emme Edizioni) about dance and mime for children. Paola Calvetti lives in Milan, is married, and has two children, a son and a daughter. Journalism on music and dance After graduation, she started her career as a journalist for the daily newspaper la Repubblica, contributing articles about dance and music. She wrote also for Rai 2, the second state channel, five portraits dedicated to great dance artists: "Jazz City"; "Alvin Ailey’s New York"; "La ville lumière, Roland Petit’s Paris"; "Water Cities, Carolyn Carlson’s Helsinki and Venice and Madrid", starring Antonio Gades and his ballet company; and "The Enchanted Moon", starring Alessandra Ferri, which won the first prize award) at the FIPA (International Festival of Audiovisual programs) in 1992; and in 1990, Il ritorno, a TV documentary dedicated to Italian dancers working abroad. From 1989 to 1992 she organized and directed the film and video Festival Danza & Video in Milan. She created and directed the series "La danza" (De Agostini), composed of 20 video-portraits of the most important dancers and choreographers of the 20th century. She wrote essays on music and dance for the Teatro alla Scala where she worked as the chief of the press office from 1993 to 1997. In 1996 she was the curator of the exhibition and the essay "Riccardo Muti alla Scala" (Leonardo Editore). Novels In 1999 she published her first novel L’Amore segreto (Baldini & Castoldi) based on a secret love story revealed by an old lady to her lover's daughter 40 years later. In 2000 the novel was finalist at the literary award Bancarella and it was published in the Netherlands, Sweden, Brazil, Greece, Japan, Rumania and in 2010 it was translated into French (L’amour secret, Presses de la cité) and Germany (Eine geheime Liebe, Goldmann). Her second novel, L’addio (Bompiani), set in the world of classical music, is the story of three women and their lifetime friendship. Olga, the main character, wants to be a costumes and set designer and her dreams come true when she works as an assistant for the famous edition of La Traviata directed by Luchino Visconti in 1955. Calvetti's