Erri De Luca

Erri De Luca (born 1950, Naples) is an Italian novelist, translator and poet. He has been recognized by critic Giorgio De Rienzo of Corriere della Sera as "the writer of the decade". He is also known for his opposition to the Lyon-Turin high speed train line, and is being sued for having called for its sabotaging. On October 19, 2015 Erri De Luca was cleared of inciting criminal damage. He reacted to the not-guilty verdict declaring that "An injustice has been avoided."

Erri De Luca's original first name was Enrico (Henry), an homage to his grandmother, who had American nationality, but defined by him as an "accident."

Upon completing high school in 1968 Erri De Luca joined the radical left-wing movement Lotta Continua. After the organization's disbanding he left political involvement. He worked as a blue collar worker at the Fiat factory in Turin and at the Catania airport. He also was a truck driver and a mason, working at job sites in Italy, France and Africa. He rode relief convoys in Yugoslavia during the war between 1993 and 1999.

Erri De Luca is self-taught in several languages including Ancient Hebrew, Swahili, Russian and Yiddish. He has translated books of the Old Testament from Old Hebrew and written commentaries on the Sacred Texts, as a "non-believer". He has published more than 70 books, numerous collections of short stories and poems, translated in more than 30 languages.

He appeared in a cameo role (of a mechanic) in the film L'isola, by Costanza Quadriglio. Erri De Luca's debut as screenwriter and leading actor was in the short film Di là del vetro (Beyond the Glass), presented at The Venice Film Festival 2011, Italy, World Premiere. "A night-time conversation between a man and his mother and a trip down memory lane through the phantoms of life. Erri De Luca opens the door to his house, transporting us into the universe of the past."

...
Wikipedia