Andrej Longo (born

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Although inhabited since the Bronze Age, as a Ancient G ...

, 1959) is an Italian writer, playwright and pizza-maker. He is a winner of the

Bagutta Prize The Bagutta Prize is an Italian literary prize that is awarded annually to Italian writers. The prize originated among patrons of Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy ...

for literature.

Life

Andrej Longo was born in Ischia, Italy. His name was given in tribute to Leo Tolstoy's ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

''. Longo obtained an undergraduate degree in Hotel Management, and followed it up with a master's degree in literature from the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

's Faculty of Arts, Music and Theatre.

Career and recognition

After early work as a lifeguard, competitive chess player, surfing instructor and waiter, Longo began to write for the stage, radio and film. He co-wrote the script for

Lina Wertmüller Arcangela Felice Assunta "Lina" Wertmüller (; 14 August 1928 – 9 December 2021) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 1970s art film, art house films ''Seven Beauties'',' ''The Seduction of Mimi'', ''Lov ...

's film ''Io speriamo che me la cave'', with whom he published in 1992 a volume containing two stories: ''Prima o poi tornerò'' was his contribution, while ''Alì Babà'' was written by the director. In 2000, he translated and adapted for the stage

Choderlos de Laclos Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos (; 18 October 1741 – 5 September 1803) was a French novelist, official, Freemason and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (''Dangerous Liaisons'') ...

' ''

Dangerous Liaisons ''Dangerous Liaisons'' is a 1988 American period romantic drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Christopher Hampton, based on his 1985 play ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'', itself adapted from the 1782 French novel of the s ...

'', which was directed by Pierpaolo Sepe. His play ''La luce dei lampioni'' was staged by Imogen Kusch at the Villagio Teatro Umbria Festival 2000. In 2002, the publisher Meridiano Zero published his collection of short stories, ''Più o meno alle tre''. The following year, he published his first novel ''Adelante'', which won the fiction section of the National Literary Prize of Pisa. In 2004, Longo contributed to the project ''Bloody Europe!'', a collection of short stories on homosexual themes. In 2007, Longo published ''Dieci'', a collection of short stories set in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

with themes based on the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

. The work won the

, the National Literary Prize of Bergamo, and the Piero Chiara Prize. The translation into English by Howard Curtis, titled ''Ten'', was long-listed for the

Independent Foreign Fiction Prize The ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize (1990–2015) was a British literary award. It was inaugurated by British newspaper ''The Independent'' to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. The award was first launched i ...

in 2014. In parallel with his writing, Longo has continued to work for the theatre. He adapted his work ''Più o meno alle tre'', which was directed by Emanuela Giordano and staged by the Roman group ''Cometa Off'' in 2003. His earlier works ''Chi ha ucciso Sarah'' (1998) and ''Un pensiero per Olga'' (1999) can be cited, as well as ''Falene'' which debuted in Naples in 2004 under the direction of Marcello Cotugno. Realising that his literary work alone could not provide a livelihood, he started to work as a pizza maker, which became an alternative career.

Bibliography

*''Prima o poi tornerò'' (1992), published by Guida (with

) *''Più o meno alle tre'' (2002), published by Meridiano Zero *''Adelante'' (2003), published by Rizzoli *''Dieci'' (2007), published by Adelphi *''Chi ha ucciso Sarah?'' (2009), published by Adelphi *''Lu campo di girasoli'' (2011), published by Adelphi *''L' altra madre'' (2016), published by Adelphi *''Solo la pioggia'' (2021), published by Palermo *''Mille giorni che non vieni'' (2022), published by Palermo *''La forma dei sogni'' (2023), published by Palermo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longo, Andrej 1959 births Living people 21st-century Italian novelists