Roberto Saviano (; born 22 September 1979) is an Italian writer, journalist, and screenwriter. In his writings, including articles and his book ''
Gomorrah'', he uses literature and investigative reporting to tell of the economic reality of the territory and business of
organized crime in Italy
Criminal organizations have been prevalent in Italy, especially in Southern Italy, the southern part of the country, for centuries and have affected the social and economic life of many Italian regions. There are major native mafia-like organiz ...
, in particular the
Camorra crime syndicate, and of
organized crime
Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...
more generally.
After receiving death threats in 2006 made by the
Casalesi clan of the Camorra, a clan which he had denounced in his exposé and in the piazza of Casal di Principe during a demonstration in defence of legality, Saviano was put under a strict security protocol. Since 13 October 2006, he has lived under police protection.
Saviano has collaborated with numerous important Italian and international newspapers. Currently, he writes for the Italian publications ''
l'Espresso
() is an Italian progressive weekly news magazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies; the other is the conservative magazine . Since 2022, it has been published by BFC Media. From 7 August 2016 to 10 September 2023, it was ...
'', ''
la Repubblica
(; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...
'', and ''The Post Internazionale''. Internationally, he collaborates in the United States with ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', and ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
''; in Spain with ''
El País
(; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.
It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...
''; in Germany with ''
Die Zeit
(, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles.
History
The first edition of was ...
'' and ''
Der Spiegel
(, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
''; in Sweden with ''
Expressen
(''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue".
The newspaper awards the cultu ...
''; and in the United Kingdom with ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' and ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''.
His writing has drawn praise from many important writers and other cultural figures, such as
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...
.
Saviano identifies as an atheist.
Biography

Son of Luigi Saviano, a Neapolitan doctor, and Miriam Haftar, a Ligurian of Jewish origins, Roberto Saviano received his high school diploma from the Armando Diaz State Scientific High School and then graduated in philosophy from the
University of Naples Federico II
The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...
, where he was the student of historian Francesco Barbagallo. In 1997, while in high school, he grew close to the
Italian Marxist–Leninist Party (PMLI) and published articles on its weekly newspaper, ''
Il Bolscevico'', under the pseudonym Roberto Ercolino. However, in 2001, he broke all links with the PMLI.
He began his career in journalism in 2002, writing for numerous magazines and daily papers, including ''Pulp'', ', ', ', the website , and for the Camorra monitoring unit of the '. His articles at the time were already important enough to spur judicial authorities at the beginning of 2005 to listen to him regarding organized crime.
In March 2006, he published ''
Gomorrah'', a novel inspired by real events. He is the author, along with Mario Gelardi, of a theatrical work of the same name and is a screenwriter for ''
Gomorrah'', the movie based on the novel. On 10 December 2009, in the presence of Nobel Prize winner
Dario Fo
Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...
, Saviano received the title of Honorary Member of the
Academy of Fine Arts of Brera and the Second Level Academic Diploma
Honoris Causa
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
in Communication and Art Education, which is the highest degree given by the university. On 22 January 2011, the
University of Genoa
The University of Genoa () is a public research university. It is one of the largest universities in Italy and it is located in the city of Genoa, on the Italian Riviera in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy. The original university was fou ...
awarded him a bachelor's degree ''honoris causa'' in law "for the important contribution to the fight against crime and to the defence of legality in our country". Saviano dedicated the honour to the judges of Milan's district attorney's office who were investigating ''
Rubygate''. This led to a controversy with
Marina Berlusconi, daughter of
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...
and president of the publishing house
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
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 ...
.
Saviano is primarily influenced by southern Italian intellectuals such as
Giustino Fortunato and
Gaetano Salvemini
Gaetano Salvemini (; 8 September 1873 – 6 September 1957) was an Italian socialist and anti-fascist politician, historian, and writer. Born into a family of modest means, he became a historian of note whose work drew attention in Italy and ab ...
, by the anarchists
Errico Malatesta
Errico Malatesta (4 December 1853 – 22 July 1932) was an Italian anarchist propagandist, theorist and revolutionary socialist. He edited several radical newspapers and spent much of his life exiled and imprisoned, having been jailed and expel ...
and
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...
, and by poet Rocco Scotellaro. Additionally, he has said that his educational background includes many prominent writers such as
Ernst Jünger
Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomology, entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir ''Storm of Steel''.
The son of a successful busin ...
,
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...
,
Louis Ferdinand Celine,
Carl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt (11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, author, and political theorist.
Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. An authoritarian conservative theorist, he was noted as a critic of ...
, and
Julius Evola
Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian far-right philosopher and writer. Evola regarded his values as Traditionalist conservatism, traditionalist, Aristocracy, aristocratic, War, martial and Empire, im ...
.
In 2015, Saviano collaborated with the Neapolitan playwright Mimmo Borrelli on the play ''Sanghenapule – Vita straordinaria di San Gennaro'', which was part of the 2015/2016 season of the
Piccolo Teatro of Milan.
In 2006, following the success of ''
Gomorrah'', which denounces the activities of the
, Saviano received ominous threats. These were confirmed by police informants and reports that revealed attempts on Saviano's life by the
Casalesi clan. Investigators have claimed that the Camorra selected
Casalesi clan boss
Giuseppe Setola to kill Saviano.
After the Neapolitan police investigations, the Italian Minister for Interior Affairs
Giuliano Amato
Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Upon Arnaldo Forlani's death in July 2023, Amato became the country's earliest-servin ...
assigned Saviano a personal bodyguard and transferred him from Naples. In the fall of 2008, informant
Carmine Schiavone, cousin of the imprisoned
Casalesi clan boss
Francesco Schiavone, revealed to the authorities that the clan had planned to eliminate Saviano and his police escort by Christmas on the motorway between Rome and Naples with a bomb; in the same period, Saviano announced his intention to leave Italy in order to stop having to live as a convict and reclaim his life.
On 20 October 2008, six Nobel Prize-awarded authors and intellectuals (
Orhan Pamuk
Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him ...
,
Dario Fo
Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...
,
Rita Levi-Montalcini
Rita Levi-Montalcini ( , ; 22 April 1909 – 30 December 2012) was an Italian neurobiologist. She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor ( ...
,
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...
,
Günter Grass
Günter Wilhelm Grass (; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.
He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gda ...
, and
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
) published an article saying that they sided with Saviano against the Camorra. They also stated that the Italian government must protect Saviano's life and help him lead a normal life. Signatures were collected on the website of the Italian newspaper ''La Repubblica.''
Saviano contributed an op-ed piece to the 24 January 2010 issue of the ''New York Times'', entitled "Italy's African Heroes"
. He wrote about the January 2010 riots between African immigrants and Italians in Rosarno, a town in
Calabria
Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...
. Saviano suggests that the rioting was more of a response to the migrants' exploitation by the
'Ndrangheta
The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a mafia-type organized crime, criminal syndicate originating from the Calabria region of Italy. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65–68 This body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to the ...
, or Calabrian mafia, than to the hostility of Italians.
In November 2010, he hosted, along with
Fabio Fazio, the Italian television program ''
Vieni via con me'', which was broadcast over four weeks by
Rai 3
Rai 3 (formerly Rai Tre) is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It was launched on 15 December 1979 and its programming is centred towards cultural a ...
.
Saviano's book, ' was published by
Feltrinelli in 2013, and the English translation was published by
Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...
in July 2015. This book is a study of the financial dealings around cocaine, covering its movement across continents and the role of drug money in international finance.
In October 2023, Saviano was given a suspended €1,000 fine for his use of profanity against
Giorgia Meloni
Giorgia Meloni (; born 15 January 1977) is an Italian politician who has served as Prime Minister of Italy since 2022. She is the first woman to hold the office. A member of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy), Chamber of Deputies since 2006, s ...
in December 2020. Saviano used the word during a televised interview while describing Meloni's and
Matteo Salvini
Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of F ...
's anti-immigration stance. Per the ruling, Saviano will only have to pay the fine if he repeats the offence. According to Saviano's lawyer, he will appeal the verdict.
''Gomorrah'', ''ZeroZeroZero''

In March 2006, Saviano's first book, ''
Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent International Empire of
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 ...
' Organized Crime System'', was published as part of
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 ...
's Strade Blu series. It describes the business and criminal world of the
and of the places where the organization was born and exists: the region of
Campania
Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
, the city of Naples, the towns of
Casal di Principe
Casal di Principe (Campanian: or simply ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region of Campania, located about northwest of Naples and about southwest of Caserta. It has a population of approximately 21,000 ...
, San Cipriano d'Aversa, and the territory around
Aversa
Aversa () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Caserta in Campania, southern Italy, about 24 km north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the ''Agro Aversano'', producing wine and cheese (famous for the typical dome ...
known as the ''agro aversano''. Having grown up there, the author introduces the reader to a reality unknown to outsiders. The book talks about the criminal bosses' sumptuous villas copied from Hollywood films, rural lands filled with the toxic waste of half of Europe, and a population that not only cohabitates with organised crime but even protects it and approves of its actions.
As of August 2009, the book had sold 2.5 million copies in Italy alone and was translated into 52 languages. In the rest of the world, about 2 million copies of ''Gomorrah'' were sold. It was present on bestseller lists in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Albania, Israel, Lebanon, and Austria.
A stage show was based on ''Gomorrah'', earning Saviano the best actor of a new Italian play award at the Olimpici del Teatro/Theater Olympics in 2008. A
film of the same name, directed by
Matteo Garrone
Matteo Garrone is an Italian filmmaker.
Early life
Matteo Garrone was born in Rome, Italy, the son of a theatre critic, Nico Garrone and a photographer, Donatella Rimoldi.
Career
In 1996 Garrone won the ''Sacher d'Oro'', an award sponsored b ...
, was also created; it won the prestigious
Grand Prix at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
in 2008. In 2009, the film won the Tonino Guerra Prize for best script at the Bari International Film Festival.
A television show titled ''
Gomorrah - La serie'' was produced by Sky Italia, Fandango, Cattleya, Beta Film, and LA7, under the supervision of Saviano and the direction of
Stefano Sollima, Francesca Comencini, and Claudio Cupellini. It ran for five series, commencing in 2014 and concluding in 2021.
In 2016, the same production crew began filming ''
ZeroZeroZero
''ZeroZeroZero'' is an Italian crime drama television series created by Stefano Sollima, Leonardo Fasoli and Mauricio Katz for Sky Atlantic, Canal+ and Amazon Prime Video. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Roberto Saviano ...
'', an adaptation of Saviano's 2013 book of the same name about the international cocaine trade.
Threats and life under police protection
The success of his book created numerous problems for Saviano, starting with threatening letters, silent phone calls, and protective isolation.
During a demonstration for legality in
Casal di Principe
Casal di Principe (Campanian: or simply ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region of Campania, located about northwest of Naples and about southwest of Caserta. It has a population of approximately 21,000 ...
on 23 September 2006, the writer denounced the business of the leaders of the Casalese clan, Francesco Bidognetti and Francesco Schiavone (currently in prison), and the two ruling bosses at the time, Antonio Iovine and Michele Zagaria. He addressed them in robust tones ("You are not from this land! Quit being part of this land!") and invited residents to rebel. Because of the threats and intimidation Saviano received consequently, the then-Minister of the Interior,
Giuliano Amato
Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Upon Arnaldo Forlani's death in July 2023, Amato became the country's earliest-servin ...
, decided to assign him police protection beginning on 13 October 2006.

On 14 March 2008, during the
Spartacus Trial, the attorney for Casalese bosses Francesco Bidognetti and Antonio Iovine, Michele Santonastaso (assisted by Carmine D'Aniello), read a letter written jointly by Bidognetti and Iovine (while both were in prison) to the president of the First Section of the Appellate Court of Assizes, Raimondo Romeres. The letter contained a request to move the trial due to ''legittima suspicione'', or doubt surrounding the impartiality of the judicial body, caused by the alleged influence of Roberto Saviano, Rosaria Capacchione, and the district attorneys Federico Cafiero de Raho and Raffaele Cantone, on the judges. Following this, Minister of the Interior Amato decided to strengthen security measures for the writer, increasing his police escort from three to five men. Bidognetti and Iovine, and their attorneys Michele Santonastaso and Carmine D'Aniello, were then charged with intimidation of Saviano and Capacchione. Before the third criminal section of the Court of Naples, the Assistant Prosecutor of the District Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA), Antonello Ardituro, requested the maximum sentence on conviction of one year and six months imprisonment. The sentence was passed for Bidognetti, Santonastaso, and D'Aniello, while Iovine was acquitted due to insufficient proof. The attorney general for Reggio Calabria, Federico Cafiero de Raho, testified during the trial, stating that Saviano was a "mortal enemy of the clan" and recalling that Saviano was among the few journalists present at all 52 of the prosecutor's closing speeches for the
Spartacus Trial.
On 14 October 2008, reports emerged of a possible assassination plot against Saviano. A police inspector of the Milan Anti-Mafia Investigation Department DIA) informed the DDA that the
pentito
''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...
,
Carmine Schiavone (cousin of boss
Francesco Schiavone, aka Sandokan), had informed him of a plan, already in operation, to kill the writer and his bodyguards before Christmas through a spectacular attack on the highway between Rome and Naples, in the style of the assassination of anti-Mafia judge
Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian ...
at
Capaci. However, when interrogated by magistrates, Schiavone denied any knowledge of the plan, provoking the writer's immediate response: "It's obvious that he'd say this; if he were to talk
bout the plan it would mean implicitly admitting to still having connections with organized crime". Subsequently, the district attorney heading the investigation requested and obtained dismissal of the case as the reports appeared to be unfounded, although Schiavone confirmed that Saviano had been condemned to death by the Casalese clan.
In October 2008, Saviano decided to leave Italy for a time, as the result of threats, which were confirmed by reports and statements from informants, revealing a
Casalesi clan plan to eliminate him.
Appeal from Nobel Prize winners

On 20 October 2008, six international
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
winners rallied in support of Roberto Saviano, asking the Italian government to do something to protect him and to defeat the
, and emphasizing the fact that organized crime is not merely a problem for police that only concerns the writer, but is a problem for democracy that concerns all free citizens. The appeal concluded that citizens cannot tolerate the fact that the events described in Saviano's book are taking place in 2008 in Europe, just as they can't tolerate that the price one pays for denouncing these events means losing one's freedom and safety. The Nobel Prize winners who launched the appeal were:
Dario Fo
Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...
,
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
,
Günter Grass
Günter Wilhelm Grass (; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.
He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gda ...
,
Rita Levi-Montalcini
Rita Levi-Montalcini ( , ; 22 April 1909 – 30 December 2012) was an Italian neurobiologist. She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor ( ...
,
Orhan Pamuk
Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him ...
, and
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...
.
The appeal was signed by writers including
Jonathan Franzen
Jonathan Earl Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel ''The Corrections'' drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist, earned a Jame ...
,
Javier Marías
Javier Marías Franco (20 September 1951 – 11 September 2022) was a Spanish author, translator, and columnist. Marías published fifteen novels, including '' A Heart So White'' (''Corazón tan blanco,'' 1992'')'', '' Tomorrow in the Battle Th ...
,
Jonathan Safran Foer
Jonathan Safran Foer (; born February 21, 1977) is an American novelist. He is known for his novels '' Everything Is Illuminated'' (2002), '' Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' (2005), '' Here I Am'' (2016), and for his non-fiction works '' Eat ...
,
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Allen Lethem (; born February 19, 1964) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His Debut novel, first novel, ''Gun, with Occasional Music'', a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, ...
,
Martin Amis
Sir Martin Louis Amis (25 August 1949 – 19 May 2023) was an English novelist, essayist, memoirist, screenwriter and critic. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and '' London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Mem ...
,
Chuck Palahniuk
Charles Michael Palahniuk (;, , born February 21, 1962) is an American novelist of Ukrainian and French ancestry who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two ad ...
,
Nathan Englander,
Ian McEwan
Ian Russell McEwan (born 21 June 1948) is a British novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of the ...
,
Hans Magnus Enzensberger
Hans Magnus Enzensberger (11 November 1929 – 24 November 2022) was a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Andreas Thalmayr, Elisabeth Ambras, Linda Quilt and Giorgio Pellizzi. Enzensberger was regarde ...
,
José Saramago
José de Sousa Saramago (; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese writer. He was the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony ,
ith which ...