Silvio Perrella is an Italian and literary critic. Born in Palermo in 1959, he has lived and worked in Naples for several years. Here, he worked as adjunct professor at Istituto Universitario "L'Orientale". He devoted himself to the tradition of 20^th-century Italian literature and the relationship between genius loci and literature, widely discussed in his essays such as Giùnapoli (2009) e Doppio scatto (2014), both focussing on the city of Naples, its glorious cultural history and its less flashy present including hidden corners and unusual panoramas. He wrote the introduction to Anna e Bruno e altri racconti by Romano Bilenchi, L'aria della sera e altri racconti by Silvio D'Arzo, Spaccanopoli by Domenico Rea and Sillabari by Goffredo Parise (authored that he examined in depth in his narrative essay Fino a Salgareda). He also edited other books including Meridiano Mondadori devoted to Raffaele La Capria's works, George Orwell's essay anthology Nel ventre della balena, La lirica del Sansevero. Poesie, prose, traduzioni by Andrea Giovene and the republication of Il critico come artista by Oscar Wilde. He won the Bilenchi Prixe for Non-fiction. He writes for several newspapers and magazine such as Il Mattino and L'indice dei libri del mese; he was also editor in chief of Mesogea. Segni e voci dal Mediterraneo. In 2016 he published the collection of essays Addii, fischi nel buio, cenni; in 2017 Insperati incontri and in 2018 the books Da qui a lì, Di terra e mare (with Raffaele La Capria) and Io ho paura.

(photo: © Festivaletteratura)