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. With Ponte alle Grazie Publishers he published the novels  Sono comuni le cose degli amici (2009, shortlisted at Strega Award), Il toro non sbaglia mai (2011), È giusto obbedire alla notte (2017, shortlisted at Strega Award) and the narrative-essay L’abisso di Eros (2018). He curated the new edition of Plato’s Symposium (Einaudi, 2009) and the narrative-essays Le lacrime degli eroi (Einaudi, 2013), Achille e Odisseo. La ferocia e l’inganno (Einaudi, 2020), Il grido di Pan (Einaudi, 2023). With HarperCollins he published the novel Sono difficili le cose belle (2022). His short stories were published in magazines, anthologies and eBooks. He collaborates with Venerdì di Repubblica, Specchio by La Stampa and l’Espresso.