Costanza Casati Brings Ancient Assyria to Life in 'Babylonia'

In Babylonia, freelance journalist, author, and screenwriter, Costanza Casati, presents an epic tale set in ancient Mesopotamia of a commoner named Semiramis who rose to power to become the only queen of the Assyrian Empire. Part historical fiction, part myth retelling, Casati did immense research on Assyrian history to bring Babylonia to life. According to Casati, “I had to spend months doing research before I even wrote anything… and usually my approach to research is both academic… but also what I call cultural, so the cultural research that allows me to recreate the texture of lived experience, to immerse myself into the mindset of these people so rather than just facts… I try and also to focus on the ancient literature that these people would’ve been familiar with and what those kind of things… can teach us about these people, and that is so, so important because it is the kind of research that makes readers, I believe, connect with the characters and really have a sense of the world.”

While a career in writing is something Casati has always aspired to, she has found that there are still some challenges that come with the territory. She remarked, “…whenever I struggle I tell myself, ‘As soon as you you were 5 years old you wanted to be an author so you have it now, you cannot complain…’ Sometimes it is hard in the sense that, you know, when you have amazing readers who expect something from you… I think once you reach that level as an author, that there are always people who want you to write certain things… My team is fantastic and I love them… and they kind of follow me on this adventure and they respect my wishes… but you need to stand up for yourself… pitch your projects so that other people will be as obsessed with them as you are. You need to convince other people that what you’re working on is going to be successful even if you don’t know it yourself.”