Susanna Tamaro

Susanna Tamaro (; born 12 December 1957) is an Italian novelist and film director. She is an author of novels, stories, magazine articles, and children's literature. Her novel (Follow Your Heart) was a worldwide bestseller, translated into 44 languages and awarded with the 1994 .

Early life and education Susanna Tamaro was born in Trieste in 1957 to a family of Jewish origins on her mother's side; she is a distant relative of the Italian writer Italo Svevo. She has described her father as an alcoholic and her mother as "cold and cruel". and then by a care home.

She received a scholarship to study at the , an Italian school of cinema located in Rome, where she obtained a diploma in direction in 1977, beginning to work with director Salvatore Samperi. She worked as a writer and editor in the television industry for several years.

In 1989, her novel (Head in the Clouds) was published by Marsilio. but it became a bestseller and sold 15 million copies by 2008. The novel won the Premio Donna Citta di Roma award in 1994. By 2002, it was translated into 44 languages.

In 1997, she published the novel , and was widely criticized for her portrayal of Father Walter in what she described as "a shameful campaign" of "insults, threats and slander". In 1998, she published Dear Matildha – I Can't Wait for Man to Walk, a collection of articles she wrote for , an Italian magazine. The book consists of three stories, featuring the daughter of a prostitute, the wife of a businessman, and a jealous husband. A review in Library Journal refers to the protagonists in each story and concludes, "Their bitterness at the world and inability to love or be loved is so off-putting that the reader is likely to stop caring long before they reach their moments of truth. Not recommended." A review by Publishers Weekly states, "If Tamaro's view is dark, the care she takes with character development infuses her narratives with a clear and resonant moral vision."

In 2001, she wrote . In 2002, she wrote ; in 2003 . In 2005, she directed the film , based on a story from Answer Me, titled "Hell Does Not Exist". This novel was translated in twelve languages. In 2008, she published Luisito – A Love Story.

In September 2018, she announced the release of her next book, anticipating that in it she would discuss how she was affected by Asperger syndrome since the early years of life.

Documentary In 2021, a documentary about Tamaro titled was shown at the Rome Film Festival and then on television in Italy on channel Rai 5. In the documentary, she discusses her life with Asperger syndrome, her writing career, and her various interests, including bicycle repair, beekeeping, and the practice of martial arts. Elsa Morante Prize for (1990) International PEN for (1991) Rapallo Carige Prize for women writers for (1992) Cento Prize for (1995) Honorary Golden Dante of A.L. "" – Bocconi University for her outstanding career (2013) for (1994) Strega Prize for (2016)

Works (1989) (1991) For Solo Voice (1992) (1994) (1994) 2018 2nd edition - Follow your Heart (1994) (1997) (English) (2007) (1997) (1998) (1999) (2000) (2001) Rizzoli Answer Me (2007) (2002) (2003) (2005) (2007) Listen to My Voice (2008) (2008) (2009) tr. by Guadalupe Ramírez Muñoz, (2010) (2011) (2011) (2013) (2013) (E-book) (2013) (E-book) (2014) (E-book) Illmitz (2014) (2014) (2015) The Tiger and the Acrobat (2017) (2018)

Filmography (2004)

Personal life Tamaro described herself as a "strange child", being treated by neurologists and taking medications from an early age; later in her childhood she read about Asperger syndrome and was finally diagnosed with the disorder. She claims to have experienced gender dysphoria since the age of 3.

In a 2002 interview, Tamaro called herself an environmentalist, a vegetarian, and "a Christian more than a Catholic" due to the religious beliefs of her family, including her father's interest in Taoism and her mother's Jewish heritage. she has lived near Orvieto with the writer for 35 years; she has referred to the relationship as a "spiritual friendship", stating that she is not a lesbian.

Tamaro has expressed her opposition to abortion.