Two Day Magazine

Heaven is here, where Juliet lives.”
    -Shakespeare

In Verona, Italy, there is a voluntary club known as the Juliet club, also known as The Club di Giulietta. It has been around for a long time, promoting the legend of Romeo and Juliet, the image of Verona, as well as handling cultural events and Juliet’s correspondences.

What do you mean by correspondences? So glad you asked! This organization answers thousands of letters that pour in from all over the world addressed to the world’s most famous romantic heroine. The letters are addressed to Juliet (think of this as Santa letters for lovers). Juliet’s secretaries read thousands of letters and write back with support and advice. Sometimes, people write just to vent about love, express how they feel about love, or just want to talk about the greatest force in the world.

Juliet club bridges gaps between cultures and languages, crosses geographical and political lines, all in the name of love. I really find this to be so interesting because, as we all know, Juliet is somewhat of a tragic figure, wouldn’t you say? And now, in some weird way, she has become a “patron saint” of lovers.
There is even a “Cara Giulietta” (“Dear Juliet”) prize that is awarded every year on Valentine’s Day to the most moving and romantic letters received during the previous year. This prize “recognizes the spontaneity of the writers who turn to Juliet to express their feelings, ask for advice or simply feel closer to this universal symbol of eternal love.”

It is such a world famous event that artist and stars come from all over including, Andrea Bocelli, Franco Zeffirelli, Giulietta Masina, Carla Fracci, Leonard Whiting.

Another great contest that this organization is involved with is the “Writing for Love” prize, which is a international Literary prize awarded each year to a book that focuses on the theme of love. The prize ceremony (which occurs in June) takes place in Verona, as well.

The city of Verona is so enamored with their fair Juliet, that they celebrate her birthday every year, on September 16. The date is based on the “novella” that was written in 1531 by Luigi Da Porto, the first man to tell the story of Romeo and Juliet. da Porto was a captain in the service of the Venetian Republic and he claimed that one of his bowmen, Pellegrino da Verona, had told him a true story of two tragic young lovers who had lived in the early 14th century and had truly belonged to two families, the Capulets and Montagues, who were rivals.

This novella inspired many other European writers, including William Shakespeare, who penned (as we all know) “Romeo and Juliet (1596).

I really love this club and the idea of promoting and encouraging people to pen their own love letters, discuss their own love lives, and immerse themselves in romance. We have made everything in our lives so sterile, filled our minds with so much cynicism and have distanced our hearts and minds from the greatest emotion that every human craves, wants and longs for...love. I salute the people of Verona for taking a stand for love. This is something we can all use a little more of in our lives. Will you be writing Juliet a letter? Write to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) I have already started mine!

For more information on this organization, go to: http://www.julietclub.com/index_en.asp