Francesca Melandri © photo private

Francesca Melandri  [Italy]

Born in 1964 in Rome, Francesca Melandri is a celebrated novelist, screenwriter, filmmaker and essayist whose works grapple with Italy’s complex historical and social narratives. Her latest novel, Cold Feet (2024) is an intrepid book about what the war does in bodies and minds yesterday as today, about telling as an art of survival – and our historical duty in the face of the attack on the Ukraine, the silence to speak.

Melandri’s debut novel, Eva dorme (Eva Sleeps, 2010), established her as a leading literary voice, weaving a powerful story of family and the turbulent history of South Tyrol. When the protagonist’s long-lost stepfather requests a final meeting as he lays dying, she travels from Bolzano to Reggio Calabria at the southernmost tip of Italy’s boot. During the journey, she reflects on the life of her single mother and the tumultuous history of the Alto Adige region. Through these reflections, she reveals the profound influence that ongoing political conflict had on intimate relationships and even the language used among each other, highlighting the empowerment and perseverance of a self-reliant woman.  Her subsequent work, Più alto del mare (Above Sea Level, 2012), examined themes of imprisonment and human resilience, earning nominations for prestigious awards, including the Premio Campiello. Her third novel Everyone But Me was voted the independent book trade’s favourite book in 2018, went through numerous reprints, and was on the SPIEGEL bestseller list for ten weeks.

In addition to fiction, Melandri has an extensive career as a screenwriter for films and television. Her essays often address contemporary socio-political issues, including migration and European identity, making her a prominent intellectual voice. Her “Letter from the future” about the coronavirus pandemic, which appeared in The Guardian in March 2020, has been translated into 35 languages and published worldwide.

Living in Rome, she continues to write across genres, contributing significantly to the discourse on Italy’s past and present.