Claudia Durastanti (born 8 June 1984) is an Italian writer and translator.

Early life

Durastanti was born in the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bensonhurst to two deaf Italian parents, who divorced in 1990. After their divorce, Durastanti (aged 6) moved to the

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region of southern Italy with her mother. This and other aspects of her life (like an incident in which her father kidnapped her as a child) are described in her semi-autobiographical novel ''La Straniera'' (published in English as ''Strangers I Know''). Durastanti studied cultural anthropology at the Sapienza University of Rome and continued her studies at De Montfort University. She then returned to Rome where she earned a master's degree in publishing and journalism.

Career

Durastanti was shortlisted for the 2019 Strega Prize and Viareggio Prize with ''La Straniera'' (La nave di Teseo, 2019). The book is translated into twenty-one languages and is being adapted into a TV show. Her work has appeared in '' Granta'', the '' Los Angeles Review of Books'' and The Serving Library. She is a board member of the Turin International Book Fair and co-founded the Italian Festival of Literature in London. She has translated several works into Italian, including Joshua Cohen's ''

The Netanyahus '' The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family'' is a 2021 novel by Joshua Cohen. It was awarded the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The book centers on a fictionalized ac ...

'' and Donna Haraway's '' Staying with the Trouble'', as well as Ocean Vuong's ''

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous ''On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous'' is the debut novel by Vietnamese-American poet Ocean Vuong, published by Penguin Press on June 4, 2019. An epistolary novel, it is written in the form of a letter from a Vietnamese American son to his illiterat ...

'' and F. Scott Fitzgerald's '' The Great Gatsby''. She writes a music column for ''Internazionale'' and serves as a curator for the feminist imprint La Tartaruga, founded by Laura Lepetit in 1975.

Personal life

At various points in her life, she has lived in Brooklyn,

, London, and Rome. After the publication of ''Strangers I Know'', she briefly lived in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic, before moving back to Rome, where she lived as of January 2023.

Works

In Italian

* ''Un giorno verrò a lanciare sassi alla tua finestra,'' Venezia, Marsilio, 2010 . * ''A Chloe, per le ragioni sbagliate'', Venezia, Marsilio, 2013 . * ''Cleopatra va in prigione'', Roma,

minimum fax minimum fax is an independent publishing house based in Rome. It was founded by Daniele di Gennaro and Marco Cassini in 1994 and it publishes books of Italian and foreign fiction, and popular non-fiction. Among other foreign authors, it publish ...

, 2016 . * ''La straniera,'' Milano, La nave di Teseo, 2019 .

In English

* ''Cleopatra Goes To Prison'', translator Christine Donougher, Dublin : The Dedalus Press, 2020. * ''Strangers I Know'', translator Elizabeth Harris,

Fitzcarraldo Editions Fitzcarraldo Editions is an independent book publisher based in London, specialising in literary fiction and long-form essays. History Founded in 2014 by Jacques Testard, it focuses on ambitious, imaginative, and innovative writing, both in ...

, January 2022.

Translations

* ''Il fantasma del sabato sera. Interviste sulla vita e la musica'' (''Tom Waits on Tom Waits: Interviews and Encounters'') by Tom Waits, Rome, minimum fax, 2012 * ''Shotgun Lovesongs'' by Nickolas Butler, Venice, Marsilio, 2014 * ''Il cuore degli uomini'' (''The Hearts of Men'') by Nickolas Butler, Venice, Marsilio, 2017 * ''Future sex'' by

Emily Witt Emily Witt is an American investigative journalist based in Brooklyn with a particular focus on modern dating from the feminine perspective. Life Witt is a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' and has written for numerous publications including ...

, Rome, minimum fax, 2017 * ''Sotto il falò'' (''Beneath the Bonfire'') by Nickolas Butler, Venice, Marsilio, 2018 * ''Atlante sentimentale dei colori'' ('' The Secret Lives of Colour'') by Kassia St Clair, Turin, UTET, 2018 * ''Un'altra occupazione'' (''Moving Kings'') by Joshua Cohen, Turin, Codice Edizioni, 2018 * ''Il museo delle relazioni interrotte'' by Olinka Vištica and Drazen Grubisic, Milan, Mondadori, 2018 * ''Le regole non valgono'' (''The Rules Do Not Apply'') by Ariel Levy, Milan, Bompiani, 2018 * ''In cucina con Kafka'' (''Baking with Kafka'') by Tom Gauld, Milan, Mondadori, 2018 *"Il trucco della bottiglia" by Nalo Hopkinson, "Il sonno delle piante" by Anne Richter, "Racconti dal seno" by Hiromi Goto in ''Le Visionarie. Fantascienza, fantasy e femminismo: un'antologia'' (''Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology'') by AA. VV., edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, Rome, NERO, 2018 * ''Mooncop. Poliziotto lunare'' by Tom Gauld, Milan, Mondadori, 2019 * ''Il libro dei numeri'' ('' Book of Numbers'') by Joshua Cohen, Turin, Codice Edizioni, 2019 * ''La trama del mondo. I tessuti che hanno fatto la storia'' by Kassia St Clair, Torino, UTET, 2019 * ''Chthulucene'' ('' Staying with the Trouble'') by Donna Haraway, Rome, NERO, 2019, (with Clara Ciccioni) * ''Schadenfreude. La gioia per le disgrazie altrui'' by Tiffany Watt Smith, Turin, UTET, 2019 * ''Brevemente risplendiamo sulla terra'' (''

'') by Ocean Vuong, Milan, La nave di Teseo, 2020 *''Tempi eccitanti'' (''

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'') by Naoise Dolan, Rome, Edizioni Atlantide, 2020 *''Madre delle ossa'' (''The Bone Mother'') by

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''Canadian Theatre En ...

, Milan, Zona 42, 2020 *''La nostra furiosa amicizia'' (''The Knockout Queen'') by Rufi Thorpe, Turin, Bollati Boringhieri, 2021 *''La fattoria degli animali'' (''

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'') by

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, Milan, Garzanti, 2021 *''Quattro nuovi messaggi'' (''Four New Messages'') by Joshua Cohen, Turin, Codice Edizioni, 2021 *''Tempi moderni'' (''Modern Times'') by Cathy Sweeney, Milan, il Saggiatore, 2021 *''Notti insonni'' ('' Sleepless Nights'') by Elizabeth Hardwick, Milan, Blackie Edizioni, 2021 *''Chinatown interiore'' (''

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'') by

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, Milan, La nave di Teseo, 2021 ISBN 9788834606353 *''I Terranauti'' ('' The Terranauts'') by T. C. Boyle, Milan, La nave di Teseo, 2022 *''Un fantasma in gola'' (''A Ghost in the Throat'') by

Doireann Ní Ghríofa Doireann Ní Ghríofa is an Irish poet and essayist who writes in both Irish and English. Biography Doireann Ní Ghríofa was born in Galway in 1981, but grew up in County Clare. She now lives in County Cork. Ní Ghríofa has been published wi ...

, Milan, Il Saggiatore, 2022 *''I Netanyahu'' (''

'') by Joshua Cohen, Turin, Codice Edizioni, 2022 *''Le cinque ferite'' ('' The Five Wounds'') by

Kirstin Valdez Quade Kirstin Valdez Quade is an American writer. Early life and education Quade was born to a white father and a Hispanic mother in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her father was a desert geologist and her family lived throughout the Southwestern United Stat ...

, Milan, La nave di Teseo, 2022 *''Notte al neon'' (''Night, Neon: Tales of Mystery and Suspense'') by

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, Carbonio editore 2022 *''Sangue e viscere al liceo'' ('' Blood and Guts in High School'') by Kathy Acker, Bari, LiberAria Editrice, 2023 *''Il fratello del famoso Jack'' (''Brother of the More Famous Jack'') by

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, Milan, HarperCollins Italia, 2023 *''Passeggiare la notte'' ('' Nightcrawling'') by

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, Turin, Bollati Boringhieri, 2023 *''Gli uomini'' (''The Men'') by Sandra Newman, Florence, Ponte Alle Grazie, 2023 *''La coppia felice'' (''The Happy Couple'') by Naoise Dolan, Rome, Edizioni di Atlantide, 2023

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durastanti, Claudia Living people 1984 births 21st-century Italian novelists Alumni of De Montfort University Italian women novelists People from Basilicata Sapienza University of Rome alumni English–Italian translators