Event #10

Mazen Maarouf is a Palestinian-Icelandic writer, poet, translator and journalist. Born in Beirut to a family of Palestinian refugees, he lives between Beirut and Reykjavìk, where in 2011 he was hosted  by International Cities of Refuge. He has recently published his first short story collection titled “Jokes for the Gunmen”, which was nominated to Man Booker International 2019 and awarded the Al Multaqa Prize, the most relevant Arabic prize dedicated to short stories. It was published by Granta in the UK and at the end of August will be published in Italy by Sellerio.
ph. credits: Raphael Lucas

Matteo Nucci was born in Rome in 1970. He has published several novels with Ponte alle Grazie, including "Sono comuni le cose degli amici" (2009, finalist for the Premio Strega), "Il toro non sbaglia mai" (2011), "È giusto obbedire alla notte" (2017, finalist for the Premio Strega), and the narrative essay "L’abisso di Eros" (2018). For Einaudi, he released a new edition of Plato's "Symposium" (2009) and the narrative essays "Le lacrime degli eroi" (2013), "Achille e Odisseo. La ferocia e l’inganno" (2020), and "Il grido di Pan" (2023). With HarperCollins, he published the novel "Sono difficili le cose belle" (2022) and "Sognava i leoni. L’eroismo fragile di Ernest Hemingway" (2024). His short stories have appeared in magazines, anthologies, and eBooks. He also collaborates with the magazines La Stampa and L’Espresso.