Between January 30th and February 1st of 2025 CELA held a general assembly of staff and participants in Turin, hosted by one of the partner organisations, Scuola Holden. This is a key moment in the project: people from 11 different European countries who usually meet online, come together in the same space! It is a time dedicated to training, exchange, and planning ahead. Marieta works as an intern for the CELA project at Wintertuin. She is a writer from Greece, currently pursuing a Masters in Comparative Literature at the University of Amsterdam.  

There is much talk about CELA being a community, a family. Coming out of the Work Week, I thought it’d be a great moment to wonder what exactly makes it so. What are its key features as felt and observed during our time together in Turin?

Setting the scene 
CELA is a group that has blossomed greatly. It has grown from a few and dedicated people at its conception in 2017 to nearly 200 people in the halls of Scuola Holden in 2025. These large and growing numbers certainly begin to justify the two most common descriptors of the Work Week: intense and inspiring. But of course it doesn’t end here. 

Some ingredients  
I noticed the presence of two things which seem crucial for developing a sense of kinship: vulnerability and honesty. The very act of showing up, being seen, taking part in the program and its activities can definitely feel vulnerable. And then there’s all the sharing: of ambitions and anxieties, as well as of personal and intimate open mic performances. 

With close friends or collaborators and with relatives we usually don’t sugarcoat things. (Now the key is to remain kind of course). Similarly here, there was acknowledgment of awkwardness, admittance of mistakes or shortcomings, calls for transparency (for instance in not overpromising things to the participants from the side of staff). 

The mix
This combination results in true potential for connection— as well as friction of course on occasion. Besides, the two share the nature of contact. 

A feeling of belonging was definitely palpable: mutual interests; conversations flowing; similar beginnings, difficulties, goals; shared experiences across cultural backgrounds. One time, after spending the day in my beloved book fair in my hometown, Thessaloniki, I remember coming out and, bathing in the late-afternoon sun, thinking: what a perfect day. In a simple childlike sense of satisfaction. I’m reminded of this, because at one point in Turin, I thought hang on, this all feels suspiciously tailored to my interests. Then it dawned on me: these people are all nerds in the same topics as me. And how pleasurable this is! 

It was in that same book fair that I heard an author talk about his desire to come into contact with things not only through connection but also through collision. In a group so culturally diverse, cultural differences in expression and expectations exist from the get-go. But even beyond this, disagreements, misunderstandings, concerns were present and in fact seemed part of the very way that CELA manages to move forward. 

A closing thought 
The figure of the solitary writer came up a couple of times (clichés, realities, opportunities to break away from it like literary festivals). I’m always curious to hear people’s takes and experiences on this. When I first started writing, in late adolescence, I thought that I’m writing because no one can understand, no one can relate: I’m putting something out there that is uniquely my own. (Who hasn’t fallen victim to some angsty teen writing?) But later on, I felt such relief to realise that I’m writing because I want people to understand, I want to relate and reach all the way through to others. It’s true that I’m striving for uniqueness; but this is more in expression rather than experience. We’re after a unique voice to speak to ever so common experiences. We’re crafting new and exciting forms for the oldest trick in the book: human connection. And what a fitting embodiment of this CELA can be.

Photos: Gaby Jongenelen