Dacia MarainiDacia Maraini is one of the most widely read Italian writers in the world. While the subject matter of her novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, essays and interviews covers a broad range, her focus is always on women’s condition.She is also a theatre and cinema director, who has founded or collaborated with various experimental companies. Among her numerous literary awards are the Premio Strega in 1999 for the short story collection Buio (Darkness; 2002 in English), the Premio Campiello in 1990 for the novel La lunga vita di Marianna Ucrìa (The Silent Duchess; 1992 in English) and the Premio Campiello again in 2012 for her career. She was a finalist for the 2011 Man Booker International Prize and nominated for the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature. Further testimony to the impact of her work around the world are eight honorary degrees – from the universities of Naples ‘L’Orientale’, Macerata, L’Aquila, Foggia and Bucharest, Middlebury ollege (Vermont), John Cabot University (Rome) and Chapman University (California) – the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, conferred in 2017, and the highest Italian honour, the Knight Grand Cross, awarded in 1996. Read More Read Less