Italian writer Erri De Luca in San Diego for a reading of his literature

Writer Erri De Luca (Naples 1950) has been recently defined as "the writer of the decade" by the Corriere della Sera. He has authored over 50 works, only a few of which have been translated into English.

In 1968 he joined the radical left-wing movement Lotta Continua; with the disbanding of the movement, De Luca joined the ranks of the proletariat, working at the Fiat factory in Turin, and then as a truck driver around Italy, France and Tanzania. He rode relief convoys in Yugoslavia during the bombing between 1993 and 1999, and apparently became a writer ‘by chance’ in 1989, with ‘Non ora, non qui‘.

Many more books followed, with success in Italy, France and Israel, and trans- lated in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Holland, USA, Brazil, Poland and Lithuania. De Luca has also taught himself several languages including Ancient Hebrew and Yiddish. He has translated several books of the Bible into Italian like Exodus, Jonah, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, and explored var- ious aspects of Judaism, as a non- believer.

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 Femina Etranger for "Montedidio" Prix Fémina. He was a member of the jury at the Cannes Festival in 2003. Erri De Luca writes regularly for various papers and magazines. He is a passionate mountain climber.

He resides in a remote cottage in the countryside of Rome. The book Three Horses translated in English will be available at ICC for signing by the author during the event. Discount for ICC members only. RSVP info@icc-sd.org or call ICC 619 2370601 Limited seats available with precedence to ICC members. The event is free of charge for both ICC members and non-members.