Erri De Luca (writer, screenwriter), born in Napoli (1950) is a writer, novelist, story-teller, essayist, translator and poet. He has published more than 60 books, numerous collections of short stories and poems, translated in more than 30 languages. He is considered by many literary experts "a master of the Italian language of the past two decades." His grandmother was Ruby Hammond, an American woman who came in Italy in the first years of the past century. His name, Erri, is an Italian version of Harry, his uncle's name. Erri De Luca started writing when he was a student. For about twenty years he has been a manual worker. His first novel, "Not Here, Not Now”, was published in Italy in 1989. He is a translator from Ancient Hebrew and Yiddish, and is an appreciated translator of several books of the Ancient Covenant. He was awarded the France Culture Prize in 1994 for his "Aceto, arcobaleno", the Laure Bataillon Award in 2002, for "Tre cavalli” (Three horses), and the Femina Etranger for "Montedidio" (translated: God’s Mountain). In 2010 he was bestowed with the German International Literary Petrarca Award. Erri De Luca appeared in a cameo role in the movie "L'isola", by Costanza Quatriglio, and made his debut as a screenwriter and leading actor in the short film "Di la' del vetro" (Beyond the Glass), presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2011. In "The Night Shift Belongs to the Stars", a screenplay he wrote, he also plays a small role. De Luca has been a member of the jury at the Cannes Festival in 2003. He wrote and starred in several plays including the theatrical drama "In viaggio con Aurora" (Traveling with Aurora). De Luca contributes regularly to several newspapers and magazines. He is a passionate mountain climber. He currently lives in the country near Rome.
Quotes
"I consider bombing an act of terrorism. To better express my condemnation against such acts, perpetrated in the former Yugoslavia by NATO in the '90s, I decided to cross over and live in Sarajevo (Bosnia). There, I experienced first hand the fear induced by the sound of air-raid sirens, that eerie sound my mother often told me when, during WWII, our Naples, then occupied by the Nazis, was regularly bombed by the Allied Forces planes.
"Invincible is not the one who always wins, but he who, after repeated defeats, keeps raising up to give it another fight."
"I learned how to breathe in synchrony with the city's [Naples] sighs of relief, with its flashes of anger, its catarrhal coughs and bursts of laughter. My writing is informed by the sulfur and the carbon monoxide of the braziers lit in small rooms overlooking icy, suffocating streets. It comes from the smell of home-roasted coffee and the feint gurgle of the pot cooking Sunday's thick sauce all night by the heat of a candle."
"Naples is a female being for its geographically concave body. It's a male for the sea that surges and penetrates it. Two sexes in one body: Naples is Adam before he lost his rib. Not a hermaphrodite, rather the invasion of one sex into other."
Works
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
Translations
"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
