A prolific narrator, with frequent forays into radio, drama and television writing, Marcello Fois (Nuoro, 1960) made his debut in 1992 with Ferro recente, tense and relentless noir filled with twists and contradictions. He won the Premio Calvino with Picta (1995) and the Premio Dessì with Nulla; he was also awarded the Premio Scerbanenco for Sempre caro and in 2002, the Premio Fedeli for Dura madre. In 2007, with Memoria del vuoto, he won the Premio Super Grinzane Cavour for Italian fiction, the Premio Volponi and the Premio Alassio 100 libri. From 2009 until today – with the exception of the plays L'importanza dei luoghi comuni (2013) and Quasi Grazia (2016) – his most ambitious work is undoubtedly the epic novel centred on the vicissitudes of the Chironi family, a story that starts with Stirpe (winner of the Premio Vigevano and the Premio Città di Montefeltro), moving onto Nel tempo di mezzo – selected for the Campiello 2012 – ending with the novel Luce perfetta (2015). In 2016 he published Manuale di lettura creativa, in 2017 the noir Del dirsi addio, in 2018 the poems collection L'infinito non finire and the essay Renzo, Lucia e io and in 2019 the novel Pietro e Paolo. Alongside his writing work, Fois is also promoter of writing and of young writers: since its founding he is the artistic director of the Sardinian literary Festival L'Isola delle Storie.

(photo: © Festivaletteratura)