Paolo Cognetti


Paolo Cognetti is an Italian writer and filmmaker, winner of the 2017 Strega Prize.

Biography

Born in Milan, he initially studied mathematics at university, but quit to enroll at Milan's film-making school Civica Scuola di Cinema «Luchino Visconti», where he graduated in 1999.
His first work as a writer was the short story Fare ordine; he then published various collections of short stories.
In 2016, he published his first novel The Eight Mountains which granted him the Strega Prize, Italy′s most prestigious literary award, as well as various international awards, such as the Prix Médicis étranger, the Prix François Sommer, and the English Pen Translates Award. It was adapted in 2022 to a film of the same name.
He has dedicated various books and documentaries to New York City, a city he visits frequently. A keen hiker and lover of the mountains, he lives in the Alps for a few months every year.

Works

  • Fare ordine. , Milan, 2003Manuale per ragazze di successo, Minimum Fax, Rome, 2004Una cosa piccola che sta per esplodere, Minimum Fax, Rome, 2007Sofia si veste sempre di nero, Minimum Fax, Rome, 2012
  • Il nuotatore, with Mara Cerri, Rome, 2013Le otto montagne , Einaudi, Turin, 2016
  • La felicità del Lupo,, Einaudi, Turin, 2021
  • Giù nella valle, Einaudi, Turin, 2023

Essays

New York è una finestra senza tende, 2010Il ragazzo selvatico. Quaderno di montagna,, Milan, 2013A pesca nelle pozze più profonde, Roma, 2014Tutte le mie preghiere guardano verso ovest, 2014
  • Senza mai arrivare in cima,, Turin, Einaudi, 2018
  • L'Antonia. Poesie, lettere e fotografie di Antonia Pozzi scelte e raccontate da Paolo Cognetti, Milan, Ponte alle Grazie, 2021.

Filmography