Giorgio Fontana (born 22 April 1981) is an Italian writer currently living and working in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Biography

Born and raised in the province of

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

, Fontana studied

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

, and graduated with a final dissertation on

Hilary Putnam Hilary Whitehall Putnam (; July 31, 1926 – March 13, 2016) was an American philosopher, mathematician, computer scientist, and figure in analytic philosophy in the second half of the 20th century. He contributed to the studies of philosophy of ...

's internal realism. In 2007 he published his debut novel ''Buoni propositi per l'anno nuovo'' (Mondadori), which was followed by ''Novalis'' (Marsilio) in 2008. With his narrative report on immigrants in Milan ''Babele 56. Otto fermate nella città che cambia'' (Terre di Mezzo), he became one of the finalists for the Premio Tondelli in 2009. In 2011, he released ''La velocità del buio'', an essay on

Berlusconism Berlusconism () is a term used in the Western media and by some Italian analysts to describe the political positions of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In general, Berlusconism could be reassumed as a mix of conservatism, populism, libe ...

and Italian identity (Zona). ''Per legge superiore'' (2011) won several literary prizes, such as the Premio Racalmare - Leonardo Sciascia 2012, the Premio lo Straniero 2012 and the 26th edition of the Premio Chianti. The book had seven reprints and has been translated into French (Seuil) German (Nagel&Kimche), Dutch (Wereldbibliotheek) and Spanish (Libros del Asteroide). ''Morte di un uomo felice'' (Sellerio 2014) brings the justice and law diptych – started with ''Per legge superiore'' – to a close. The book won the

Premio Campiello The ''Premio Campiello'' is an annual Italian literary prize. A jury of literary experts (''giuria di letterati'' in Italian) identifies books published during the year and, in a public hearing, selects five of those as finalists. These books ...

2014 and the Premio Loria 2014 and was translated in eight countries. After a brief novella (''Un solo paradiso'', Sellerio 2016) he published the vast family saga ''Prima di noi'' (Sellerio 2020), which won several prizes. In 2019 he also published a comic book about the Deep Sea Slum in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, ''Lamiere'' (Feltrinelli), in collaboration with Danilo Deninotti e Lucio Ruvidotti. At present, he lives and works in Milan. He is one of the scriptwriters for the weekly comic "

Topolino ''Topolino'' (from the Italian language, Italian name for Mickey Mouse) is an Italian digest-sized comic series featuring Disney comics. The series has had a long running history, first appearing in 1932 as a comics magazine. Since 2013, it has ...

", the popular Italian weekly newspaper containing illustrated tales with

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

. He also collaborates with the Sunday magazine of "Sole 24 ore" and other Italian magazines, and teaches creative writing at Scuola Holden and Scuola Belleville.

Works

Fiction

* ''Buoni propositi per l'anno nuovo'', Mondadori 2007. * ''Novalis'', Marsilio 2008. * ''Babele 56. Otto fermate nella città che cambia'', Terre di Mezzo 2008 e 2014. * ''Per legge superiore'', Sellerio 2011. * ''Morte di un uomo felice'', Sellerio 2014. Awarded with the

2014. * ''Un solo paradiso'', Sellerio 2016. * ''Prima di noi'', Sellerio 2020. * ''Il mago di Riga'', Sellerio, 2022.

Essays

* ''La velocità del buio'', Zona 2011.

Comics

* ''Lamiere'', Feltrinelli 2019 (con Danilo Deninotti e Lucio Ruvidotti)

Awards

* Premio Sodalitas per il Giornalismo Sociale - Sezione Web 2011 * Premio lo Straniero 2012 * Premio Racalmare - Leonardo Sciascia 2012 * Premio Letterario Chianti - 26th edition - 2013 *

2014 * Premio Loria 2014 * Premio Scrivere per Amore 2017 * Premio Salgari 2020 * Premio Mondello 2020 * Premio della critica del Premio Brianza 2020 *

Premio Bagutta The Bagutta Prize is an Italian literary prize that is awarded annually to Italian writers. The prize originated among patrons of Milan's ''Bagutta Ristorante''. The writer Riccardo Bacchelli discovered the restaurant and soon he regularly gathe ...

2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Giorgio 1981 births Living people Italian male writers University of Milan alumni