Maria Mazziotti Gillan is probably one of the most famous and thought-provoking contemporary artists of Italian descent. She is the author of numerous poetry books and has recently started a parallel career as a painter. By focusing on her most recent poetry collection entitled When the Stars Were Still Visible (2021), this essay sets out to explore the strategies she has articulated to heal her individual and collective wounds (as an Italian American), while resisting the annihilation of her cultural background. Throughout her life, she has been compelled to cross several emotional wastelands, eventually managing to carve her own path to multiple places (both physical and imaginary) she could call âhomeâ.