Carlo Lucarelli was born in Parma in 1960. An expert on the history of fascism, he wrote numerous detective novels and short stories featuring Inspector De Luca as the protagonist. In the 1990s, he co-founded Gruppo 13, bringing together the main crime fiction writers from the Emilia-Romagna region and inspiring a new generation of Italian authors. Thanks to seminal books such as Almost Blue, Falange armata, and Il giorno del lupo, he became one of the most prominent and representative figures of the new Italian noir. His work, translated into multiple languages, has been widely adapted for cinema and television, including the hit series L'ispettore Coliandro and the TV movie cycle dedicated to Commissario De Luca. A playwright, true crime journalist, comic book scriptwriter, and creative writing teacher, he co-founded the bolognese writing academy Bottega Finzioni alongside Giampiero Rigosi, Beatrice Renzi, and Michele Cogo. He has worked extensively in television, creating and hosting cult investigative programmes on Italy's unsolved crimes, such as Mistero in Blu (later Blu notte), which earned him the Flaiano Prize in 2006. He also hosted Lucarelliracconta on Rai 3 and Almost True on Rai 1. His most recent publications include Léon, In compagnia del lupo, the essays Nero come l'anima and Nero come l'abisso (co-authored with Massimo Picozzi), the novels Bell'abissina and Almeno tu, as well as the short story collection Nei luoghi più oscuri.

(foto: © Leonardo Céndamo)