
Simonetta Agnello Hornby is an Italian novelist and food writer. Her novels are international bestsellers, translated into more than twenty languages.
Biography
Born in
Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
,
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
, in 1945, Simonetta Agnello Hornby has spent most of her adult life in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
where she worked as a
solicitor
A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
for a community legal aid firm specialized in
domestic violence
Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...
that she co-founded in 1979. She has been lecturing for many years, and was a part-time judge at the
Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal for eight years.
Her debut novel ''La Mennulara'' (''The Almond Picker'') was published in Italy in 2002 by
Feltrinelli, and was awarded the Forte Village Literary Prize, The Stresa Prize for Fiction, and the "Alassio 100 Libri - An Author for Europe" Prize in 2003. Translated into more than ten languages, it became an international bestseller.
In the following decade, Hornby wrote six more novels: ''La zia Marchesa'' (''The Marchesa''), ''Boccamurata'', ''Vento Scomposto'', ''La Monaca'' (''The Nun'', winner of the Italian Pen Prize), and ''Il veleno dell'Oleandro''. She has also published
memoir
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...
s (''Via XX settembre'', ''La mia Londra''), a collection of short stories (''Il male che si deve raccontare''), books of recipes and etiquette ''Un filo d'olio'', ''La cucina del buon gusto''). Her last book, ''Il pranzo di Mosè'', was published in Italy in 2014. She lives in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
She was awarded the
Order of the Star of Italy
The Order of the Star of Italy ( ) is an Italian order of chivalry that was founded in 2011. The order was reformed from the 1947 Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity by the 11th President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. The emphasis of the ...
in the rank of Grand Officer by the
President of Italy
The president of Italy, officially titled President of the Italian Republic (), is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity and guarantees that Politics of Italy, Italian politics comply with the Consti ...
on 2 June 2016.
She married Martin Hornby. They have two sons, George and Nicholas.
Works
Translated into English
*
*
*
In Italian
* ''La Mennulara'' (The Almond Picker), Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2002, ISBN 88-07-01619-2; New extended edition, Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2019, ISBN 978-88-070-3302-5.
* ''La zia marchesa'' (The Marchesa), Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2004. ISBN 88-07-01659-1.
* ''Boccamurata'', Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2007. ISBN 978-88-07-01712-4.
* ''Vento scomposto'', Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2009. ISBN 978-88-07-01772-8.
* ''Camera oscura'', Collana Art Stories, Milano, Skira, 2010. ISBN 978-88-572-0612-7.
* ''La monaca'' (The Nun), Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2010. ISBN 978-88-07-01823-7.
* ''Un filo d'olio'', Collana La memoria, Palermo, Sellerio, 2011. ISBN 88-389-2549-6.
* ''La cucina del buon gusto'', with Maria Rosario Lazzati, Collana Varia, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2012. ISBN 978-88-07-49120-7.
* ''La pecora di Pasqua'', with Chiara Agnello, Bra, Slow Food, 2012. ISBN 978-88-8499-290-1.
* ''Il veleno dell'oleandro'', Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2013. ISBN 978-88-07-01941-8.
* ''Il male che si deve raccontare per cancellare la violenza domestica'', Simonetta Agnello Hornby e Marina Calloni, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2013. ISBN 978-88-07-49150-4.
[Con un programma che ha coinvolto le donne potenzialmente esposte a violenza e le aziende in cui lavorano, la Global Foundation for the Elimination of Domestic Violence (Edv) ha contribuito a contenere il fenomeno della violenza domestica in Inghilterra. Questo libro ha lo specifico obiettivo di creare un'Edv italiana per applicarne il metodo anche in Italia.]
* ''Via XX Settembre'', Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2013. ISBN 978-88-07-03062-8.
* ''La mia Londra'', Collana Scrittori, Firenze, Giunti, 2014. ISBN 978-88-09-78683-7.
* ''Il pranzo di Mosè'', Collana Scrittori, Firenze, Giunti, 2014. ISBN 978-88-09-80254-4.
* ''Caffè amaro'', Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2016. ISBN 978-88-07-03183-0.
* ''Nessuno può volare'', Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2017. ISBN 978-88-07-03253-0.
* ''Rosie e gli scoiattoli di St. James'', Simonetta Agnello Hornby e George Hornby, Illustrazioni di Mariolina Camilleri, Collana Biblioteca Junior, Firenze, Giunti, 2018, ISBN 978-88-098-6717-8.
* ''Marzo'' (multiple authors), ''Un anno in giallo'', Palermo, Sellerio, 2017, ISBN 978-88-38-93712-5.
* ''La mennulara: Graphic novel'', with Massimo Fenati, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2018, ISBN 978-88-07-55012-6.
* ''Siamo Palermo'', with Mimmo Cuticchio, Collana Strade blu, Milano, Mondadori, 2019, ISBN 978-88-047-1325-8.
*''Piano nobile'', Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2020, ISBN 978-88-0703413-8
*''Punto pieno'', Collana I Narratori, Milano,
Feltrinelli, 2021. ISBN 978-8807034626
*''La cuntintizza'', with Costanza Gravina,
Mondadori
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy.
History
The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 19 ...
, 2022. ISBN 9788804746607
*''Era un bravo ragazzo'', Collana Scrittori italiani e stranieri,
Mondadori
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy.
History
The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 19 ...
, 2023.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hornby, Simonetta Agnello
1945 births
Living people
Writers from Palermo
21st-century Italian novelists
Italian women novelists
21st-century Italian women writers
Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom