Erri De Luca

Enrico "Erri" De Luca (born 20 May 1950, Naples) 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". 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."

Biography Erri De Luca's original first name was Enrico ("Henry"). is an Italian version of his uncle's name, "Harry".

Upon completing high school in 1968, Erri De Luca joined the radical left-wing movement . 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 , by Costanza Quadriglio. Erri De Luca's debut as a screenwriter and leading actor was in the short film (Beyond the Glass), presented at the Venice Film Festival 2011 in Italy, with Its 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 and produced by OH!PEN. The short film was on the shortlist for the 2013 Academy Awards and won the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival award. In the same year, Erri De Luca began writing the story for the documentary film, "Trees that Walk." In 2014, he wrote and interpreted "A Musical Imprinting," a musical biography about his life. OH!PEN produced both documentaries.

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," produced by Soul Film Production and OH!PEN. “What does this age resemble?” De Luca wonders. “It resembles climbing up a mountain forest. In the dense conifers, little light enters; I only see what is close around me, but higher up, they thin out, clearings open, there is more light. In this age, at the top of the forest, I see far, glimpses of the future, not mine, the one without me."

A significant portion of his writing has been adapted into theater plays.

De Luca is a 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.

De Luca’s civic engagement is inseparable from his writing. Over the years, he has participated in volunteer missions and, more recently, personally delivered humanitarian aid to Ukraine, continuing his lifelong commitment to solidarity and social responsibility.

Literature Although he had never stopped writing since he was 20, his first book, "Non ora, non qui" ("Not now, not here"), was published in 1989. Many more books followed, best-sellers in Italy, France, and Israel, his work being translated and published in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, the 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 jury member 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.

Erri De Luca write for various newspapers (La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera Il Mattino, Avvenire), and other magazines.

His latest book, published in collaboration with Rabbi Haim Baharier, is "La Genesi" (Genesis).

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 (Me, You, Other Press) 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 è 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/Gesù, 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 dello scandalo, La Giuntina, 2011 I pesci non chiudono gli occhi, Feltrinelli, 2011 Il Turno di Notte lo Fanno le Stelle, Feltrinelli, 2012 ("The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars") Il torto del soldato, Feltrinelli, 2012 Il Turno di Notte lo fanno le Stelle, OH!PEN Feltrinelli, 2012 La doppia Vita dei Numeri, Feltrinelli, 2012 The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars, Feltrinelli, 2012 Ti sembra il Caso?, Feltrinelli 2013 Storia di Irene, Feltrinelli 2013 The Crime of a Soldier, Feltrinelli La musica Provata (A Musical Imprinting), Feltrinelli 2014 La parola contraria, Feltrinelli 2015 Il più e il meno, Feltrinelli 2016 La Faccia delle nuvole, Feltrinelli 2016 La Natura Esposta, Feltrinelli 2016 Diavoli Custodi, Feltrinelli 2017 Il giro dell’oca, Feltrinelli 2018 Impossibile, Feltrinelli 2019 A Grandezza Naturale, Feltrinelli 2021 Spizzichi e Bocconi, Feltrinelli 2022 Cercatori d'acqua, Casa Editrice Giuntina 2023 A Schiovere, Feltrinelli 2023 Discorso per un amico, Feltrinelli 2024 L'età sperimentale, Feltrinelli 2024 La Genesi, Feltrinelli 2025 Prime Persone, Feltrinelli 2025

Translations by the author

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 Noè/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), Mondadori, 2009