A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life

Michelle Johnston
  • 4.7 (13)
  • Places & Travel
  • Updated Semimonthly

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.

  1. Living the Italian Dream at home in Australia!

    4d ago

    Living the Italian Dream at home in Australia!

    "There is only one way, and that is your way" - CG Jung Welcome to Episode #145: This share is all about reflecting on a recent milestone of seven years of podcasting and sharing stories and conversations about this Italian Love Affair - it has been a journey of living between two worlds and cultivating a sense of meaning from my journeys to Italy and being at home in Australia.  I share how my books on Italian culture and living my own version of the Italian dream has been a journey of discovery and illumination over the past twenty years. There is so much that I have been attracted to in Italy that I have made my own over the years living in country NSW with my cypress and olive trees, and yes the dream has been realised without my even knowing it.  I talk about the "Values Renaissance" that has been simmering in the background of my own world and how I have come to terms with honouring what really matters at home and in life. It has been a wild journey and a wonderfully spirited process of learning and living.... Enjoy this episode, Michelle x Shownotes  A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the 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 people and 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. © 2026  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

    38 min
  2. Why Artists and Writers seek Europe, especially France & Italy!

    May 19

    Why Artists and Writers seek Europe, especially France & Italy!

    “France had long been at the center of her philosophy. She had made France a touchstone in her writing, in which she alchemised life, love, and food in a literary genre of her own invention” - Luke Barr on MFK Fisher, Provence 1970 Welcome to Episode #144: Today I share why going to Europe for art, writing, philosophy and liberation has been a necessary evolution for many artists and writers. I contemplate my own journey and the many that have gone before seeking stimulation and artistic freedom amongst the avant-garde and the lively cafes of Paris and other wonderful European cities.  Artists and writers have gravitated to these places and cultural epicentres for artistic communities, intellectual stimulation, mentors and teachers, and to attract opportunities for their art and writing careers.  Enjoy this share, Michelle x Shownotes  A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A Writer in Italy is about travel, art and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way.  © 2026  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

    32 min
  3. Could our cookbooks save us right now?

    May 14

    Could our cookbooks save us right now?

    "There is magic in cooking, and in cooking Italian food there is alchemy" - Old World Italian by Mimi Thorisson Since our lives contain multitudes, yes an American poet once said that, I feel to step away from the noise is to disarm the outside influences that are at times necessary and sometimes it is just kind of ridiculous. So the remedy is to open a cookbook and read a recipe and make something beautiful.  I am an instinctual cook, I like throwing things together and using what is within reach, but sometimes I do find it quite meditative to pull a book and take some quiet time to wander through the pages, let the pages talk to me. I find this kind of thing quite wonderful and simple. I like reading about the author's philosophy and personal experience, what brought them to share their world of cooking and eating and sharing. I find this rather meditative and inspirational, a balm for my spirit.  In these changing times I believe it could be the perfect antidote to the things piling up on top of us. Cook something, eat something, and maybe share it with a friend. Note: The image is from my table, while editing I was baking my favourite Ricciarelli - the Tuscan almond biscuits from the cookbook by Gennaro Contaldo - Gennaro's Italian Bakery... Enjoy,  Michelle x Shownotes  A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the 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 people and 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. © 2026  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

    16 min
  4. "Il mio maestro" and the Quintessence of Reading

    May 13

    "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 Woolf Today I share some beautiful moments while reading a few books on my table that have given much pause for thought. So I open a few on the fly and chat about the book, the author and what I Loved about the pages.... Teach Us To Sit Still by Tim Parks A Place in the World by Frances Mayes Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim  Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati Intermezzo by Michelle Johnston (August Release) Image - 6th Arrondissement Paris & Me (or it could have been heaven) Enjoy,  Michelle x Shownotes  A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the 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 people and 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. © 2026  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

    33 min
  5. Out on a Limb, the writer’s life….

    May 6

    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 process. And maybe it will all work out in the end. And if it doesn’t work out, well I guess, it is not the end. Today I share some of my trials and tribulation of the creative life and committing to the crazy idea to write a book (another book). Somehow talking about it I come out the other side with a fresh perspective. I also had a nice epiphany straight after so really, thanks for being here! And please feel free to share with me if this episode resonated with you. I am here for the connection  Michelle x Enjoy, Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the 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 people and 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. © 2026  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

    36 min
  6. Rothko in Florence - The Liberation of Colour

    Apr 26

    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 experience, a world unique to that particular encounter” - Christopher Rothko, Mark Rothko and the Inner World Welcome to Episode #140: In Italy, Mark Rothko (1903-1970) found what he was looking for.  On a long voyage in Europe in 1950 with his wife, Rothko found himself in Florence, in the cradle of the Italian Renaissance - Today I share the story about this encounter and the shift in perspective that occurred for his painting, and the places in Italy that opened a new dialogue, a liberation of colour. Mark Rothko is currently on exhibit at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. There are three site specific places to see this exhibition including the Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana) and the Museum of San Marco (Museo di San Marco) in Florence. Mark Rothko is most known for his colour field paintings, the great abstract artworks that have become iconic in modern art. Today I share about his life, the influence of Italy, and the experience of seeing a Rothko artwork in person (think rapture meets a direct experience of a unified colour field) and why you should go if you can. "Rothko’s art is an invitation. It is a doorway and really demands that you pay attention" - Michelle Johnston Visit: Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi  "Rothko’s first encounter with Florence dates to 1950, during a trip to Italy with his wife Mell. He was deeply moved by Fra Angelico’s frescoes at the Convent of San Marco and by Michelangelo’s architectural vision in the Vestibule of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, which would inspire the Seagram Murals painted in the late 1950s—a dialogue that Rothko further developed during his second visit to Florence in 1966. In some of his more delicate works, one can also perceive the influence of fifteenth-century Italian art and, in particular, of Angelico’s fresco technique. Rothko and Angelico shared a desire to evoke a sense of transcendence, a dimension at once distant and profoundly familiar. While Angelico achieved this through the emotional resonance of divine figures in dialogue with earthly reality, Rothko created color fields capable of accompanying viewers into different emotional depths, challenging accepted notions of abstraction and color theory" - Palazzo Strozzi, Florence Enjoy,  Michelle x Shownotes  A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way.  Support the show

    22 min
  7. On Seeking Art & Beauty and Why it Really Matters!

    Apr 1

    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 Johnston In more recent years the science of ‘neuro-aesthetics’ has given us much to ponder in terms of understanding the importance of art and beauty in our lives. I share my personal experience and sound research on the positive side effects that seeking art, travel and beauty in our lives has on our mental health, neuro-plasticity and longevity.  This is a broad topic yet I cite recent book publications and examples on the importance of art, creativity and travel and how there are many positive flow on effects in our lives.  Enjoy, Michelle x Shownotes  A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the 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 people and 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. Support the show

    23 min
  8. Cucina Classica - My favourite foodie moments in Italy

    Mar 27

    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" - Sybille Bedford, Pleasures and Landscapes Welcome to Episode #138: Today I share some gastronomic highlights from the table in Italy. Italian food has so much to offer, and is a wonderful portal into the culture and the regional dishes. You do not want to miss the opportunity to discover new flavours and specialities of the place you are visiting while traveling. I love the excitement of ordering the cucina classica or something off the daily menu when I travel. Here are a few of many glorious moments that I have savoured along the way... Enjoy, Shownotes - All Places / Restaurants mentioned for today's podcast are here! A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the 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 people and 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. Support the show

    28 min
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4.7
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

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.

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