Rachel Beanland 

I plan to set my third novel on the Sardinian island of La Maddalena, where my father was

stationed for two years when I was a young girl. I am interested in La Maddalena’s Cold War

history; from 1972 to 2008, it served as a logistical and technical hub for U.S. and allied nuclear

submarines patrolling the Mediterranean. I am writing my novel from the perspective of an older

woman who is reflecting back on the time she spent on the island in the 1970s. La Maddalena’s

isolation, not to mention its complicated history with the U.S. military, will allow me to examine

issues of national sovereignty, acculturation, environmentalism, and more.