Marco Archetti (Brescia, 1976) made his fiction debut in 2003 with the novel Lola motel. 2005 saw the release of Vent'anni che non dormo and his participation in Scritture Giovani with the short story Jet-Lag. That same year, he moved to Rome, which inspired his novel Maggio splendeva. In 2009, he penned Gli asini volano alto; in 2011, Sabato, addio, followed in 2013 by Sette diavoli, the second installment of an ideal diptych set in Brescia across different eras. In 2014, he published eight articles in Corriere della Sera profiling the victims of the Piazza della Loggia bombing; these were later adapted for a public reading produced by the Teatro Stabile di Brescia and ultimately collected in the memorial book Una specie di vento (2018). In 2015, he wrote I giorni non si scavalcano, a novel inspired by the life of boxer Leonard Bundu, and Effetto farfalla, the autobiography of world champion gymnast Vanessa Ferrari. He often balanced fiction writing with playwriting: notable works include the dramatized adaptation of Elsa Morante's novel La Storia (Uno scandalo che dura da diecimila anni); La parola giusta, a monologue written for Lella Costa about the Piazza Fontana and Piazza della Loggia bombings; and In piena luce, raccontando Primo Levi, a lecture-performance sponsored by the Centro Internazionale Studi Primo Levi. Since 2017, he has collaborated with Il Foglio, where he writes a "caustic literary column" and contributes reviews and numerous articles on books, readers, and writers. In 2023, he published the reportage Brescia città aperta (Enrico Damiani Editore) and the novel La luce naturale (Mondadori).

(photo: © Festivaletteratura)