Dacia Maraini

Dacia Maraini is one of the most important figures in contemporary Italian literature, whose works explore the position of women in modern society. She is the author of numerous plays and novels, translated into more than 30 languages, and has received a number of prestigious awards for her work, including the Formentor Prize for L’età del malessere (The Age of Malaise, 1963), the Premio Fregene for the book Isolina (1985), the Premio Campiello and Book of the Year Award for La lunga vita di Marianna Ucrìa (The Long Life of Marianna Ucrìa, 1990), and the Premio Strega for Buio (Darkness, 1999). She was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2011. In 2013, the biographical documentary I Was Born Travelling, directed by Irish Braschi, told the story of Maraini’s life, with particular focus on her internment in a Japanese concentration camp during World War II, as well as her travels around the world with her partner Alberto Moravia and close friends Piero Paolo Pasolini and Maria Callas.