Maurizio de Giovanni (born March 31, 1958, in Naples) is an Italian author of mystery novels.
Maurizio de Giovanni was born in Naples in 1958; he has spent the majority of his life living and working there. In 2005 he decided to join a Porsche Italia competition reserved for giallo novelists, and that's where he came up with the character of Commissario Ricciardi, main protagonist of his first short story, “I vivi e I morti”. This was the start of his career as a writer. Subsequently, I Vivi e i morti served as an inspiration for Le lacrime del pagliaccio (reissued as Il senso del dolore (2007), later translated as I will have vengeance – The winter of commissario Ricciardi), whose detective Ricciardi then became the protagonist for a series of very popular murder novels.
Following this, in 2008, Blood curse – The springtime of commissario Ricciardi was released. In 2009 came Everyone in their place – The summer of commissario Ricciardi and finally, in 2010, The day of the dead – The autumn of commissario Ricciardi was released. He started to gain a wider audience and made a name for himself because of this series.
In 2011 he had his first book published by Einaudi, By my hand – A commissario Ricciardi mystery.
In 2012 de Giovanni wrote in the noir genre with a book titled The Crocodile (Il metodo del coccodrillo), introducing a new main character, Ispettore Lojacono.
In the same year, together with Einaudi, he published the pocket version of the seasons’ novels and the brand new Viper – A commissario Ricciardi mystery.
In 2013 The Bastards of Pizzofalcone (I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone) was released. The book was inspired by the 87th Precinct novels from author Ed McBain, and marked De Giovanni's transition from the noir genre to the police procedural. Soon after, he published Darkness for the Bastards of Pizzofalcone (Buio per i Bastardi di Pizzofalcone), the second entry in what would become the 'Pizzofalcone' novels. In 2017, The Bastards of Pizzofalcone was adapted as a televisions series of the same name for Rai 1.
In the same month as Darkness was completed, his short story Un giorno di Settembre a Natale, contained in the anthology Regalo di Natale, was published by the editor Sellerio.
2014 was a prolific year for de Giovanni. Not only were 15 of his noir stories released in the Mani insanguinate anthology, he also had two new novels published: Bottom of your heart (by Einaudi) and Gelo per i bastardi di Pizzofalcone.
In 2015, Glass souls, the 8th installment in the Ricciardi's series, was released. In the same year, he appeared at an event at the Italian Cultural Institute in Edinburgh, in conversation with academic Raffaella Ocone discussing the success of the detective story. [1]
In 2016, de Giovanni had both Serenata senza nome. Notturno per il commissario Ricciardi and Pane per i Bastardi di Pizzofalcone published.
The majority of his works are currently translated into the following languages: English, Spanish, Catalan, French and German.
He's an atheist. [2]
Bruno Munari was "one of the greatest actors of 20th-century art, design and graphics". He was an Italian artist, designer, and inventor who contributed fundamentals to many fields of visual arts in modernism, futurism, and concrete art, and in non-visual arts with his research on games, didactic method, movement, tactile learning, kinesthetic learning, and creativity. On the utility of art, Munari once said, "Art shall not be separated from life: things that are good to look at, and bad to be used, should not exist".
The Bagutta Prize is an Italian literary prize that is awarded annually to Italian writers. The prize originated among patrons of Milan's Bagutta Ristorante. The writer Riccardo Bacchelli discovered the restaurant and soon he regularly gathered numerous friends who would dine there together and discuss books. They began charging fines to the person who arrived last to an appointed meal, or who failed to appear.
Carlo Delle Piane was an Italian film actor. From 1948 until his death, he appeared in more than 100 films.
Alessandro Barbero is an Italian historian, novelist and essayist.
Andrea Bajani is an Italian novelist, poet, and journalist. After his debut with Cordiali saluti, it was Se consideri le colpe which brought him a great deal of attention. Antonio Tabucchi wrote about his debut novel, "I read this book with an excitement that Italian literature hasn't made me feel in ages." The book won the Super Mondello Prize, the Brancati Prize, the Recanati Prize and the Lo Straniero Prize.
Franco Fortini was the pseudonym of Franco Lattes, an Italian poet, writer, translator, essayist, literary critic and Marxist intellectual.
Pier Antonio Quarantotti Gambini was an Italian writer and journalist, author of novels, poetry, and essays.
Marco Malvaldi is an Italian crime writer.
Evelina Borea is an Italian art historian, author and curator.
Michela Murgia was an Italian novelist, playwright, and radio personality. She was a winner of the Premio Campiello, the Mondello International Literary Prize and Dessì prize, and was an active feminist and left-wing voice in the Italian public scene, speaking out on themes such as euthanasia and LGBTQ+ rights.
Anne Milano Appel is an American translator of Italian literature and language teacher. She obtained a doctorate in Romance languages from Rutgers University in 1970. She has translated, among others, works by Claudio Magris, Paolo Giordano, Giovanni Arpino and Goliarda Sapienza. She was awarded the John Florio Prize in 2012 for her translation of Arpino's Scent of a Woman. She is also working on English translations of Giordano's Like Family, Syrian Dust by Francesca Borri and Don't Tell Me You're Afraid by Giuseppe Catozzella.
Andrea Garbin is an Italian poet. He was born in Castel Goffredo, Brescia, Italy.
Guia Risari is an Italian writer, educator and translator.
Maria Messina was an Italian writer.
Giovanni Orelli was a Swiss poet and writer who worked in Italian and the Ticinese dialect. His cousin Giorgio Orelli was a poet and literary critic.
Emanuele Corocher is an Italian writer born in Verona, Italy, living and working in Verona, Italy. His novel "Morire a Marcinelle" published by Tra le righe libri for the social theme and for the memory of the terrible disaster that took place in Marcinelle.
Carmelo Samonà was an Italian academic and writer, as well one of the most important Italian Hispanists.
Inspector Ricciardi is an Italian crime drama television series based on the novels by Maurizio De Giovanni. It was first aired on Rai 1 on 25 January 2021.
The Bastards of Pizzofalcone is an Italian police procedural crime drama television series based on the I bastardi di Pizzofalcone novels by Maurizio de Giovanni. It has been broadcast on Rai 1 since 9 January 2017.
