User:Toffanin/Erri De Luca

Erri De Luca (born May 20, 1950) is an Italian journalist, novelist, short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator. Prolific throughout his life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition, some of which became international best-sellers translated and published in more than 30 languages (including Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, English, Russian and Greek), as well as examples of contemporary Italian poetry along with many short-stories and essays.

De Luca is the winner of several prestigious awards and is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative Italian writers of his generation; he has been described by critic Giorgio De Rienzo of Corriere della Sera as "Italian writer of the decade"^[1] and by critic Andrea Scanzi of La Stampa as "For anyone who believes [...] that contemporary Italian art is irremediably dead, I recommend Erri De Luca's last book"^[2].

Biography[edit]

Early years and education[edit]

Erri De Luca is born May 20, 1950 into a wealthy middle class family in Naples, a town located in Italy's region of Campania. De Luca entered Classical Lyceum Umberto I, Naples, in 1963 where he was trained in the tradition of classical studies.

Career[edit]

After graduation from Umberto I in 1968, De Luca left Naples to become a former leader of the autonomist movement Lotta Continua in Rome where he worked as a reporter until organization disbanded in 1976.

Following Lotta Continua's disbandment, De Luca left Rome to work as a blue collar at the FIAT's factory of Turin. For a short period De Luca worked at the Catania's airport after which he worked for some years as a truck driver and bricklayer all over Italy, France and Africa. He drove relief convoys in Yugoslavia during the war between 1993 and 1999.

Erri De Luca writes regularly for several Italian newspapers and magazines, most notably La Repubblica, Il Manifesto, Corriere della Sera, Il Mattino, Avvenire and MicroMega.

(TODO)[edit]

He is self-taught in several languages including Russian, Ancient Hebrew and Yiddish.

De Luca is a passionate mountain climber. A reclusive character, he currently lives in a remote cottage in the countryside of Rome.

Erri De Luca's first debut as screenwriter and leading actor in the short film DI LÀ DEL VETRO (Beyond the Glass), presented at The Venice Film Festival 2011, Italy, World Premiere. "A night-time conversation between a man and his mother and a trip down memory lane through the phantoms of life. Erri De Luca opens the door to his house, transporting us into the universe of the past."

Recent Works[edit]

Film[edit]

De Luca has performed in various cameo roles for indipendent films premiered in prestigious film festivals, such as the character The Mechanic in 2003 movie The Island directed by Costanza Quadriglio wich premiered at Cannes Film Festival, and in 2011 short movie Beyond the Glass directed by Andrea Di Bari wich premiered at Venice Film Festival.

De luca's short story, Il turno di notte lo fanno le stelle, has been adapted in a 2012 short movie, of the same title, directed by Edoardo Ponti in which Erri plays himself in a short cameo alongside the main cast composed of American actress Nastassja Kinski, Italian actors Filippo Timi and Enrico Lo Verso.

He has been a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003.

Motifs[edit]

Legacy[edit]

I consider bombardments the definition of an act of terrorism. So, to express myself against such acts, perpetrated by NATO and my own country, I crossed over to the other side. There I experienced the air-raid sirens that my mother told me about first-hand, when Naples was bombed by the Allied Forces during the Second World War.

Invincible is not the one who always wins, but who, defeated and defeated, never stops standing up to fight again

Awards[edit]

De Luca's novel, Aceto, arcobaleno, won the France Culture Prize in 1994 for the best book written by a foreigner, and in 2002 he was awarded by Prix Laure Bataillon, one of the highest French awards to be bestowed upon non-French writers, for the novel Tre cavalli (titled in English as Three Horses: The Novel); once again in 2002 he won the Fémina Étranger for the novel Montedidio (titled in English as God's Mountain).

In 2010 he also received the Petrarca-Preis European literary award.

1994 in literature France Culture Prize
2002 in literature Prix Laure Bataillon
2002 in literature Prix Fémina
2010 in literature Petrarca-Preis

List of Works[edit]

Novels Translated in English[edit]

Novels (Italian edition)[edit]

Non ora, non qui (1989)
I colpi dei sensi (1990)
Variazioni sopra una nota sola - Lettere a Francesca (1990)
Una nuvola come tappeto (1991)
Aceto, arcobaleno (1992)
I colpi dei sensi (i traversali) (1993)
In alto a sinistra (1994)
Prove di risposta (1994)
Pianoterra (1995)
Il cronista scalzo e altri scritti (1996)
Alzaia (1997)
Ora prima (1997)
Come noi coi fantasmi (1998)
Tu, mio (1999)
Cattività (1999)
Tufo (Book) (1999)
Un papavero rosso all'occhiello senza coglierne il fiore (2000)
Elogio del massimo timore. Il salmo secondo (2000)
Altre prove di risposta (2000)
Tre cavalli (2000)
Montedidio (2002)
Lettere da una città bruciata (2002)
Nocciolo d'oliva (2002)
Il contrario di uno (2003)
Immanifestazione (2003)
Precipitazioni (2004)
Mestieri all'aria aperta. Pastori e pescatori nell'Antico e nel Nuovo Testamento (2004)
Lettere a Francesca (1990) (2004)
Alzaia (2nd Edition) (2004)
Chisciottimista (2005)
Sulla traccia di Nives (2005)
In nome della madre (2006)
Napolide (2006)
Sottosopra. Alture dell'Antico e del Nuovo Testamento (2007)
Lettere fraterne (2007)
L'isola è una conchiglia. Racconti (2008)
Almeno 5 (2008)
Il cielo in una stalla (2008)
In molti giorni lo ritroverai. Incontro (con Massimo Orlandi) (2008)
Il giorno prima della felicità (2009)
Tentativi di scoraggiamento (a darsi alla scrittura) (2009)
Penultime notizie circa Ieshu/Gesù (2009)
Il peso della farfalla (2009)
Non ora, non qui (2nd edition) (2009)
Tu non c'eri (2010)
In nome della madre letto da Erri De Luca (Audiobook) (2010)
Rivolte inestirpabili (2010)
E disse (2011)
Le sante dello scandalo (2011)
I pesci non chiudono gli occhi (2011)
Il turno di notte lo fanno le stelle (ebook only) (2012)

Short story collections[edit]

Poetry (Italian editions)[edit]

Opera sull'acqua e altre poesie (2002)
Solo andata. Righe che vanno troppo spesso a capo (2005)
L'ospite incallito (2008)

Theatre[edit]

Spargimento: opera per musica e danza (1997)
L'ultimo viaggio di Sindbad (2003)
Morso di luna nuova. Racconto per voci in tre stanze (2004)
Chisciotte e gli invincibili. Il racconto, i versi, la musica (2007)

Translations[edit]

Esodo/Nomi (1994)
Giona/Iona (1995)
Kohèlet/Ecclesiaste (1996)
Il libro di Rut (1999)
Salmo secondo ovvero Elogio del massimo timore (2000)
Nòah Anshel dell'altro mondo di David Katz. Traduzione dall'yiddish (2002)
Vita di Sansone dal libro Giudici/Shoftim (2002)
Vita di Noé/Nòa (2004)
L'ospite di pietra. L'invito a morte di Don Giovanni. Piccola tragedia in versi (con testo russo a fronte di Aleksandr Puškin) (2005)
Canto del popolo Yiddish messo a morte di Itzak Katzenelson

Novels and poetry[edit]

Although he never stopped writing since he was 20, his first book is published in 1989, Non ora, non qui (Not now, not here). Many more books followed, best sellers in Italy, France and Israel, his work being translated and published in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Holland, USA, Brazil, Poland, Norway, Danmark, Romania, Greece, Lithuania, and more and more. He has himself translated several books of the Bible into Italian like Exodus, Jonah, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, and explored various aspects of Judaism, as a non-believer.

Works[edit]

Non ora, non qui, Feltrinelli, 1989
Una nuvola come tappeto, Feltrinelli, 1991
Aceto, Arco baleno, Feltrinelli, 1992
I colpi dei sensi, Fahrenheit 451, Milano, 1993
Prove di risposta, Edizioni Nuova Cultura, Roma, 1994
In alto a sinistra, Feltrinelli, 1994
Pianoterra, articoli, Qiqajon, Bose, Magnano, 1995
"Il cronista scalzo e altri scritti", Legatoria del Sud
Alzaia, Feltrinelli, 1997
Ora prima, Qiqajon, Bose, Magnano, 1997
Tu, mio, Feltrinelli, 1998
"Tufo", Dante & Descartes, 1999
Tre cavalli, Feltrinelli, 1999 (Three Horses, Other Press)
"Un papavero rosso all'occhiello senza coglierne il fiore", Interattiva, 2000
Montedidio, Feltrinelli, 2002 (God's Mountain, Other Press)
Opera sull'acqua e altre poesie' (poetry)', Einaudi, 2002
"Lettere da una citta' bruciata", Dante & Descartes, 2002
Nocciolo d'oliva, EMP, 2002
Il contrario di uno, Feltrinelli, 2003
"Immanifestazione", Dante & Descartes, 2003
"Morso di luna nuova. Racconto per voci in tre stanze", Mondadori, 2004
"Precipitazioni", Dante & Descartes, 2004
"Chisciottimista", Dante & Descartes, 2005
In nome della madre, Feltrinelli, 2006
Sulla traccia di Nives, Mondadori, 2006
"Napolide", Dante & Descartes, 2006
"Sottosopra" (with Gennaro Matino), Mondadori, 2007
"lettere fraterne" (with Izet Sarajilic), Dante & Descartes, 2007
"L'isola e' una conchiglia", La Conchiglia, 2008
"Almeno cinque" (with Gennaro Matino), Feltrinelli, 2008
"L'ospite incallito" (poetry), Einaudi, 2008
"Il cielo in una stalla", Infinito, 2008
Tentativi di scoraggiamento (a darsi alla scrittura), Dante & Descartes, 2009 (Attempts at discouragement (when taking up writing))
"Penultime notizie circa Ieshu/Gesu'", Messaggero, 2009
Il giorno prima della felicità, Feltrinelli, 2009 ("The day before happiness", Other Press)
Il peso della farfalla, Feltrinelli, 2009
Tu non c'eri, Dante & Descartes, 2010
"Rivolte inestirpabili", Forum Edizioni, 2010
E disse, Feltrinelli, 2011
"Le sante sello scandalo, La Giuntina, 2011
"I pesci non chiudono gli occhi", Feltrinelli, 2011
"Il turno di notte lo fanno le stelle", Feltrinelli, 2012 ("Stars do the night shift")
"Il torto del soldato", Feltrinelli, 2012

Translations[edit]

"Esodo/Nomi", Feltrinelli, 1994
"Giona/Iona", Feltrinelli, 1995
"kohelet/Ecclesiaste", Feltrinelli, 1996
"Il libro di Ruth", Feltrinelli, 1999
"Salmo secondo ovvero Elogio del massimo timore", in Micromega, 2000
"Noah Ansheldell'altro mondo" (of Dovid Katz), translation from Yiddish, Dante & Descartes, 2002
"Vita di Sansone dal libro Giudici/Shoftim, Feltrinelli, 2002
"Vita di Noe'/Noa", Feltrinelli, 2004
"L'ospite di pietra. L'invito a morte di Don Giovanni. Piccola tragedia in versi", Feltrinelli, 2005
"Canto del popolo yiddish messo a morte (of Ytshak Katzenelson), Monadori, 2009

References[edit]

^ Giorgio De Rienzo (1999-12-11). "Erri de Luca, Italian writer of the decade". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 2012-06-08.
^ Andrea Scanzi (2010-01-16). "A small gem from Erri De Luca. Seventy pages, simply perfect". La Stampa. Retrieved 2012-06-08.

External links[edit]

Category:Italian novelists Category:Italian translators Category:Italian poets Category:Living people Category:1950 births Category:Prix Femina Étranger winners Category:Translators of the Bible into Italian

[1] Giorgio De Rienzo (1999-12-11). "Erri de Luca, Italian writer of the decade". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 2012-06-08.

[2] Andrea Scanzi (2010-01-16). "A small gem from Erri De Luca. Seventy pages, simply perfect". La Stampa. Retrieved 2012-06-08.

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