Born in Sassari in 1942, Bianca Pitzorno graduated in Classical Studies and then obtained and MA in Cinema and TV Studies at Scuola Superiore delle Comunicazioni Sociali in Milano. For seven years, she was and executive at RAI where she was in charge of cultural TV programmes for children. She also collaborated Televisione della Svizzera Italiana. She has published several books, mainly novels, both for adults and children translated into many languages. Just in Italian her books have sold over two million copies. She translated works by J.R.R. Tolkien, Sylvia Plath, David Grossman, Enrique Pérez Díaz, Tove Jansson, Soledad Cruz Guerra and Mariela Castro Espín. She lives in Milan. She does not like travelling but she goes regularly to Cuba and Sardinia. Since 2004 she has devoted herself exclusively to adults novels. Amongst her books: La bambina col falcone; Vita di Eleonora d'Arborea; Ascolta il mio cuore; Tornatrás; La bambinaia francese; Giuni Russo. Da Un'Estate al Mare al Carmelo; La vita sessuale dei nostri antenati (spiegata a mia cugina Lauretta che vuol credersi nata per partenogenesi); Sortilegi. «The only constant element of my writing, she wrote, is my attention to female characters, the true protagonists of my books, and to the issues of being a woman, a girl or a little girl in our contemporary society or in a more or less remote past».

(photo: © Festivaletteratura)