Enrico "Erri" De Luca (born 20 May 1950, Naples)[1][2] is an Italian novelist, translator and poet. He has been recognized by critic Giorgio De Rienzo of Corriere della Sera as "the writer of the decade".[3] He is also known for his opposition to the Lyon-Turin high speed train line, and is being sued for having called for its sabotage. On 19 October 2015, De Luca was cleared of inciting criminal damage. He reacted to the not-guilty verdict declaring that "An injustice has been avoided."[4]
Erri De Luca's original first name was Enrico ("Henry"). Erri is an Italian version of his uncle's name, "Harry".[5]
Upon completing high school in 1968, Erri De Luca joined the radical left-wing movement Lotta Continua. After the organization's disbanding, he left his political involvement. He worked as a blue-collar worker at the Fiat factory in Turin and the Catania airport. He was also a truck driver and a mason, working at job sites in Italy, France, and Africa. He rode relief convoys in Yugoslavia during the war between 1993 and 1999.
Erri De Luca is self-taught in several languages, including Ancient Hebrew, Swahili, Russian and Yiddish. He has translated books of the Old Testament from Old Hebrew and written commentaries on the Sacred Texts as a "non-believer". De Luca embarked on an independent study of Ancient Hebrew in 1983, driven by a desire to delve into the original language of the Bible. This endeavor allowed him to engage deeply with the texts, leading to personal translations of several biblical books into Italian, including Exodus, Jonah, Ecclesiastes, and Ruth. His approach to these translations is characterized by focusing on the literary and historical aspects rather than theological interpretations. He has published over 100 books and numerous short stories and poem collections. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages.
He appeared in a cameo role (of a mechanic) in the film L'isola, by Costanza Quadriglio. Erri De Luca's debut as a screenwriter and leading actor was 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."
Again, with "The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars," he was a screenwriter and actor directed by Edoardo Ponti. The short was on the shortlist for the 2013 Academy Awards and won the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. In the same year, Erri De Luca began writing the story for the documentary film, "Trees that Walk", and in 2014 he wrote and interpreted "A Musical Imprinting," a musical biography about his life.
In 2018, he co-produced the movie "Happy Times", directed by Michael Mayer.
In 2024, he wrote and interpreted the short movie "The Experimental Age," which was produced by Soul Film Production and OH!PEN.
De Luca is a passionate mountain climber. A reclusive character, he currently lives in the countryside of Rome.
In 2011, he created the Fondazione Erri De Luca with Paola Porrini Bisson. The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to cultural and social initiatives. Inspired by Erri De Luca's literary and humanitarian vision, it promotes literature, human rights, and solidarity through publications, events, and community engagement.
De Luca maintains a daily practice of reading passages from the Hebrew Bible each morning. Despite his non-religious stance, he finds personal and intellectual enrichment in this practice.
Literature
Although he has never stopped writing since he was 20, his first book was 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, the Netherlands, USA, Brazil, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Romania, Greece, Lithuania, and more. He has himself translated several books of the Bible into Italian, including Exodus, Jonah, Ecclesiastes, and Ruth, and explored various aspects of Judaism, as a non-believer.
In France, he received the France Culture Prize in 1994 for Aceto, arcobaleno, the Laure Bataillon Award in 2002 for Tre cavalli and, also in 2002, the Fémina Étranger for Montedidio, translated in English as God's Mountain. In 2010 he was given the German international literary Petrarca-Preis. He was a member of the jury at the Cannes Festival in 2003. In 2013, he received the European Prize for Literature. In 2016, he received European Book Prize for his novel "Le plus et le moins". In 2020 he received Le prix André Malraux.
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