About the Travellers

Our Travelling Party

Our trip to Piacenza was an amazing journey, which began with our travelling party of four: Fakra Jabeen, Ellie Sutcliffe, Judy Blazer and Professor Will Kaufman. We'd like to introduce ourselves:

The Travellers: (left to right) Ellie, Fakra, Judy and Will

Fakra and Ellie (that's us!)

Ellie - About Me

I am a first-year student at UCLan studying a BA Hons English Literature and Creative Writing. I am a fledgling writer, currently exploring my passions and ideas through academic study. I am also a keen traveller and am steadily ticking off my travel wish list, having visited Australia, Germany, France, Catalonia and, now Italy. I am a lover of good music and good writing, so the opportunity to visit, un Mississippi al Po felt like the right fit for me. I have been raised on jazz music, with both my Father and Grandfather being jazz trumpet players. Since embarking on my academic journey I have undertaken several achievements including a summer research internship focusing on Jazz and Literature, particularly the work of Toni Morrison. I have also written several articles for the university newspaper, Pluto and lead the UCLan Writer's Society during my first year.

You can follow me on twitter @easutcliffe and my blog HERE

About Fakra

I’m a fresh graduate from the University of Central Lancashire! Having studied English Language and Literature at university, I was able to discover the best of both worlds – the linguistic side and the creative literary aspect of language. When I’m not studying (or eating) I play netball, explore different cultures, or learn a new language. Growing up in a multilingual society, I was able to appreciate the various languages of the world that were spoken around me, making me want to learn them too! I am currently fluent in Urdu and Panjabi and can hold a basic conversation in Arabic and Korean. Language and culture go hand in hand after all! However, a much more unlikely pair is Literature and Music – which is precisely what this festival was all about. Literature and Music share a space which brings together cultures, ideas and people from all around the globe. This is exactly what we were honoured to be part of in Piacenza. I am very grateful for the chance of getting to witness such an inter-cultural event and being able to meet some truly inspiring individuals in such an amazing city.

About Will and Judy

Professor Will Kaufman teaches at the University of Central Lancashire as Professor of American Literature and Culture. Will's passion is music and he is a gifted singer and multi-instrumentalist. He has performed and presented his work on Woody Guthrie at Glastonbury, the Bath International Music Festival, the Whitby Folk Festival and the Big Session. He has also performed at un Mississippi al Po festival, taking part in a rendition of 'This Land is Your Land' with Nora Guthrie and three generations of the Guthrie Family, an experience he considers one of the most joyous of his life and career.

Of this experience he said,

"Nora Guthrie and I were at the Piacenza festival in 2009, along with Sarah Lee Guthrie (Woody's granddaughter/Arlo's daughter) and her husband, Johnny Irion. We sang singing "This Land Is Your Land" with three generations of Guthries - Nora, Sarah Lee, and Sarah Lee's two daughters, Sophie and Olivia" (see photos below)

His research on Woody Guthrie has been published in several publications including Woody Guthrie, American Radical (Illinois, 2011) and Singing for Peace: Antiwar Songs in American History (Paradigm, 2015). Most recently he has published a groundbreaking article focussing on Woody Guthrie's experience living in 'Beach Haven' complex owned by Fred Trump, Donald Trump's father.





Read Will's article HERE

You can read more about Will's amazing career HERE and follow him on twitter @KaufmanWill for news on his latest projects.

You can find a plethora of videos featuring Will on YouTube. The video below is just one of many, focusing of Woody Guthrie's anthem 'This Land is Your Land':

About Judy

As mentioned in our first post, Judy has a rich and prestigious career on Broadway as an actress, singer and vocal coach and has forged a reputation as a 'professionals professional'. She is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Artist's Crossing Theatre Company and has mentored many young aspiring actors and singers. She has taught Master Classes at many universities, including the University of Central Lancashire. She's also an amazing storyteller and has blessed Fakra and myself with hours of wonderfully enriching tales.

"As a teacher, Judy brings a wealth of knowledge to the table; she is a professional in every sense of the word. She knows exactly what to say and how to say it to ensure I get the best out of myself and the material I'm working on. She is as kind as she is talented and is at the top of her game when it comes to knowing her craft." - Nick Verina, "Young Ben" in Broadway's recent revival of Follies.

This video was created by John Blanchard for The Manhattan School of Music's distinguished alumni award in 2010. Judy has since worked on a number of different projects including A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.

Of dal Mississippi al Po, Judy said "“The kind of work that Seba Pezzani is doing is instrumental in making a strong connection between art forms of varying cultures and generations. In these globally troubled times, it is only art and love that can save us and the festival sustains that very philosophy by honoring both those forces.”
You can read more about Judy's work HERE

Day 1 - How to Keep Sane in a Queue

I began the early day with bags packed, clothes laid out and a sense of anticipation, a feeling I was glad of throughout what was to become a very long and eventful day.

They say the best-laid plans are always somewhat ambitious, and ours was no exception. I had organised myself ahead of time, printed our e-tickets and checked in the night before. I caught the train on time, I arrived at Manchester Airport on time and met my lovely travel buddy on time. That's where our good luck seemed to flounder. As we made our way through security we were stopped for all manner of issue - an electric iron, medication, random checks. As we sighed with relief, our chaperone, Will, stopped and threw his hands in the air. We immediately knew something was wrong. We looked up at the flight information board and saw the word all air travellers dread - CANCELLED! Our well-timed flight had been cancelled thanks to good old staff sickness.

We began to panic, albeit calmly, and made our way back through border control and to the place where we met at the check in.

And so our wait began...

There are many things you can do in a slow crawling queue, and today we were going to discover just how many there were:-

• Practice balancing on one leg
• Talk about the politics of the day
• Play a game of 'eye spy'
• Concoct stories about all the people around you - who they are, what they do, why they're travelling
• Tell stories about yourself

Our queuing was kept endlessly entertaining as Judy told us stories of her life. As an actor, singer, teacher and voice coach, Judy Blazer has lived a wonderful and interesting life. She told us of her parents - her mother, an Italian voice coach at the Naples Conservatory and her father, a Polish-Jewish American who met during the Second World War. They settled in Montclair, New Jersey, raising Judy and her brother. As she grew up her love of singing grew and she moved to the Manhatten School of Music after dropping out of junior year at high school. 

Of the many wonderful stories that Judy told during our long wait, this was my most memorable. Her parents owned an apartment in New York and had many tenants over the years. One such tenant appeared in the 60's, a lovely British girl with lilac hair. The lilac-haired lady spent some time in the apartment and was liked so well by Judy's parents that they invited her over to dinner on occasion. When she left the apartment her parents showed Judy a gift that she had left. A vinyl 45 single of the song "Son of a Preacher Man". The lilac-haired girl was Dusty Springfield. 

As the hours went by in our seemingly endless queue, we found another flight and were given a complimentary lunch for our trouble. We flew to Heathrow and boarded our British Airways flight to Milan, finally arriving at 9.20pm. I noticed the rise in temperature immediately, but instead of feeling suppressed by it I felt a burst of renewed energy in my tired body. We were here!

Our Plane

The view as we flew over the Alps into Italy

Our wonderful host Seba arranged a pick up for us and we met Camilo; a marvellous member of the crew and Piacenzian who we would get to know over the next three days. Camillo drove us the 1 hour 30 minute trip to Piacenza and we finally arrived at the City Hotel where I washed the day off me, rested my weary head on my pillow and felt that anticipation once again.

The coziest hotel room