This is a list of women writers (including poets) who were born in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

or whose writings are closely associated with that country.

A

* Vittoria Aganoor (1855–1910), poet, letter writer *

Milena Agus Milena Agus (born 1959) is an Italian author from Sardinia. She is one of the leading novelists in the so-called Sardinian Literary Spring which began in the 1980s and which includes other international names such as Michela Murgia. Biography Mi ...

(born 1959), novelist *

Sibilla Aleramo Sibilla Aleramo (born Marta Felicina Faccio; 14 August 1876 – 13 January 1960) was an Italian feminist writer and poet best known for her autobiographical depictions of life as a woman in late 19th century Italy. Life and career Aleramo wa ...

(1876–1960), poet, autobiographer, feminist writer * Gabriella Ambrosio (born 1954), novelist, essayist, journalist * Isabella Andreini (1562–1604), playwright, poet, actress *

Tullia d'Aragona Tullia d'Aragona (1501/1505 – March or April 1556) was an Italian poet, author and philosopher. Born in Rome sometime between 1501 and 1505, Tullia traveled throughout Venice, Ferrara, Siena, and Florence before returning to Rome. Throughout her ...

(c. 1510–1556), writer, philosopher, courtesan *

Antonia Arslan Antonia Arslan ( hy, Անտոնիա Արսլան, born 1938) is an Italian writer and academic of Armenian origin. Biography Arslan was born in Padua in 1938 to Michele Arslan and Vittoria Marchiori. Her paternal grandfather Yerwant Arslanian ...

(born 1938), novelist, critic, translator, educator *

Devorà Ascarelli Devorà Ascarelli was a 16th-century Italian poet living in Rome, Italy. Ascarelli may have been the first Jews, Jewish woman to have a book of her own work published. Biography Little is known about Devorà Ascarelli, and some of what is known ...

(c. 16th century), poet and translator * Costanza d'Avalos Piccolomini (died 1560), poet * Elisa S. Amore (born 1984), novelist

B

* Ida Baccini (1850–1911), children's writer *

Emma Baeri Emma Baeri (born July 11, 1942) is a Sicilian feminist historian and essayist. She has played an active role in organizing feminist political action and literary life in Italy along with her academic career. Biography Emma Baeri was born in Paler ...

(born 1942), feminist historian, political scientist * Teresa Bandettini (1763–1837), poet, dancer * Anna Banti (1895–1985), historical novelist, critic, autobiographer *

Barbara Baraldi Barbara Baraldi is an Italian mystery and fantasy writer. Biography A native of Mirandola, she currently lives near Modena. Her debut novel is ''La ragazza dalle ali di serpente'', published in 2007, under the pseudonym of Luna Lanzoni. As a noi ...

, thriller novelist *

Giuseppa Barbapiccola Giuseppa Eleonora Barbapiccola (1702 – ca 1740) was an Italian natural philosopher, poet and translator. She is best known for her translation of René Descartes' ''Principles of Philosophy'' to Italian language, Italian in 1722. In her prefac ...

, (1702–c. 1740), poet, translator *

Laura Battiferri Laura Battiferri (1523–1589), also called Laura Battiferri Ammannati, was an Italian poet during the Renaissance period. She was born in Urbino, Marche, Italy as the illegitimate daughter of Giovanni Antonio Battiferri from Urbino and Maddal ...

(1523–1589), poet *

Giuliana Berlinguer Giuliana Berlinguer (; 23 November 1933 – 15 September 2014) was an Italian director, screenwriter, and novelist. Life and career Born in Mantua, Berlinguer studied at the Silvio d’Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she graduated in st ...

(1933–2014), film director, screenwriter, novelist * Angela Bianchini (1921–2018), novelist, short story writer, translator * Alberta Bigagli (1928–2017), poet *

Margarita Bobba Margarita Bobba ('' fl''. 1560), was a writer and noblewoman of Casale Monferrato, described by Gioseffantonio Morano as possessing an elevated wit and being well versed both in the Latin and Italian languages and in the art of poetry. She published ...

(16th century), poet *

Catherine of Bologna Catherine of Bologna aterina de' Vigri(8 September 1413 – 9 March 1463)Stephen Donovan (1908). "St. Catherine of Bologna". In ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company. was an Italian Poor Clare, writer, teacher, mystic ...

(1413–1463), religious writer, saint *

Simona Bonafé Simona Bonafé (born 24 June 1973) is an Italian politician and journalist who is serving as a member of the country's Chamber of Deputies. Career Born in Varese, Bonafé started her political activity in 2002 with The Daisy party. In 2004 she ...

(born 1973), journalist, politician *

Laudomia Bonanni Laudomia Bonanni (8 December 1907 – 21 February 2002) was an Italian writer and journalist. Although she started publishing when she was a teenager, her literary career took off in 1948 when she won a national contest; she went on to be a p ...

(1907–2002), writer, journalist *

Maria Selvaggia Borghini Maria Selvaggia Borghini (1656–1731) was an Italian poet and translator. Works *''Rime della Signora Lucrezia Marinella Lucrezia Marinella (1571-1653) was an Italian poet, author, and an advocate of women's rights. She is best known for ...

(1656–1731), poet, translator *

Helle Busacca alt=The poet circa 1950 Helle Busacca (; San Piero Patti, 21 December 1915 – Florence, 15 January 1996) was an Italian poet, painter, and writer. Life Born in a well-to-do family in San Piero Patti, Province of Messina, Sicily, Helle Busacca ...

(1915–1996), poet, painter, author

C

Paola Calvetti Paola Calvetti (born in Milan, 1958) is an Italian novelist and journalist. Personal life She was educated at Liceo Linguistico A. Manzoni (Languages School) and graduated in DAMS (Drama, Art and Music Studies) at Bologna University. Just afte ...

(born 1958), novelist, journalist *

Duccia Camiciotti Duccia Camiciotti (19 March 1928 – 7 July 2014) was an Italian poet, writer and essayist. Studies and early life Camiciotti's studies were founded in the Classics. She attended Silvio d’Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts (Silvio d’Amico Ac ...

(1928–2014), poet, essayist * Manuela Campanelli (born 1962), journalist, non-fiction writer *

Paola Capriolo Paola Capriolo (born 1 January 1962) is an Italian novelist and translator. The daughter of a theatre critic and translator from Liguria and an artist from Turin, she was born in Milan and was educated at the University of Milan, receiving a d ...

(born 1962), novelist, translator * Lara Cardella (born 1969), novelist, author of '' Good Girls Don't Wear Trousers'' *

Catherine of Siena Catherine of Siena (Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church ...

(1347–1380), religious writings *

Nadia Cavalera Nadia Cavalera (born 20 September 1950 in Galatone, Lecce) is an Italian novelist, poet and literary critic. Cavalera attended the Liceo Classico "Palmieri" de Lecce and earned a bachelor's degree in Philosophy in the Università di Lecce, w ...

(born 1950), novelist, poet, critic *

Laura Cereta Laura Cereta (September 1469 – 1499), was one of the most notable humanist and feminist writers of fifteenth-century Italy. Cereta was the first to put women’s issues and her friendships with women front and center in her work. Cereta wrote i ...

(1469–1499), 15th-century letter writer *

Isabella Cervoni Isabella Cervoni ( Colle Val d'Elsa, 1575–1600) was an Italian poet of the Counter-Reformation period, active between 1590 and 1600. She wrote encomiastic and polemical poems addressed to numerous secular and religious dignitaries of the Italian ...

(1575–1600), poet * Alba de Céspedes y Bertini (1911–1997), journalist, novelist * Saveria Chemotti (born 1947), non-fiction, essays, literary criticism, novels *

Maria Chessa Lai Maria Chessa Lai (born 1922 in Monti, Italy, died 2012 in Alghero, Italy) was a poet writing in the Catalan Algherese dialect. She was three times winner of the Premio Ozieri awarded annually for the best new poetry written in a Sardinian minorit ...

(1922–2012), Catalan poet from Sardinia * Fausta Cialente (1898–1994), novelist * Maria Luisa Cicci (1760–1794), poet *

Vittoria Colonna Vittoria Colonna (April 149225 February 1547), marchioness of Pescara, was an Italian noblewoman and poet. As an educated, married noblewoman whose husband was in captivity, Colonna was able to develop relationships within the intellectual circl ...

(1492–1547), popular 16th-century poet *

Danila Comastri Montanari Danila Comastri Montanari (4 November 1948 – 28 July 2023) was an Italian historical mystery fiction writer. She wrote the Publius Aurelius Statius series. Biography Graduated in pedagogy and political sciences, for twenty years she has been ...

(born 1948), novelist *

Cristina Comencini Cristina Comencini (; born 8 May 1956) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and novelist. Biography She is one of four daughters of Italian film director Luigi Comencini. She attended with her sisters the Lycée français Chateaubriand (Rom ...

(born 1956), novelist, film director * Margherita Costa (17th century), poet, songwriter * Maria Corti (1915–2002), philologist, critic, novelist

D

* Virgilia D'Andrea (1888–1933), anarchist poet * Emanuela Da Ros (born 1959), children's writer *

Grazia Deledda Grazia Maria Cosima Damiana Deledda (; 27 September 1871 – 15 August 1936), also known in Sardinian language as Gràssia or Gràtzia Deledda (), was an Italian writer who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926 "for her idealistically ...

(1871–1936), novelist, poet, Nobel laureate * Silvana De Mari (born 1953), children's writer, fantasy novelist * Compiuta Donzella (13th century), earliest women poet writing in Italian * Paola Drigo (1876–1938), short story writer, novelist * Francesca Duranti (born 1935), novelist

E

Muzi Epifani Maria Luisa Gabriella Epifani, better known as Muzi Epifani (March 18, 1935 – February 12, 1984), was an Italian writer and poet. Biography Muzi Epifani was born in Benghazi, Libya. She studied literature and philosophy at the Heidelberg U ...

(1935–1984), novelist, poet, playwright, columnist

F

* Camilla Faà (c. 1599–1662), early autobiographer *

Oriana Fallaci Oriana Fallaci (; 29 June 1929 – 15 September 2006) was an Italian journalist and author. A partisan during World War II, she had a long and successful journalistic career. Fallaci became famous worldwide for her coverage of war and revolution ...

(1929–2006), journalist, biographer *

Eleonora Fonseca Pimentel Eleonora Anna Maria Felice de Fonseca Pimentel (born ''Leonor da Fonseca Pimentel Chaves''; 13 January 1752 – 20 August 1799) was an Italian poet and revolutionary connected with the Neapolitan revolution and subsequent short-lived Neapo ...

(1752–1799), poet, letter writer *

Moderata Fonte Moderata Fonte, directly translates to Modest Well is a pseudonym of Modesta di Pozzo di Forzi (or Zorzi), also known as Modesto Pozzo (or Modesta, feminization of Modesto), (1555–1592) was a Venetian writer and poet. Besides the posthumously ...

(1555–1592), Venetian poet * Laudomia Forteguerri (1515–1555?), poet * Biancamaria Frabotta (born 1946), poet, playwright, essayist, non-fiction writer *

Veronica Franco Veronica Franco (1546–1591) was an Italian poet and courtesan in 16th-century Venice. She is known for her notable clientele, feminist advocacy, literary contributions, and philanthropy. Her humanist education and cultural contributions influe ...

(1546–1591), poet

G

Veronica Gambara Veronica Gambara (29 or 30 November 1485 – 13 June 1550) was an Italian poet and politician. She was the ruler of the County of Correggio from 1518 until 1550. Biography Born in Pralboino (now in the Province of Brescia), in Lombardy, Italy, Ga ...

(1485–1550), poet, letter writer * Brunella Gasperini (1918–1979), journalist, novelist * Natalia Ginzburg (1916–1991, novelist, short story writer, essayist *

Cinzia Giorgio Cinzia Giorgio (born April 1, 1975, in Venosa, Province of Potenza) is an Italian writer. Biography Cinzia Giorgio was born in Venosa, Italy, in April 1975. She has a degree in modern literature at University of Naples Federico II, her thes ...

(born 1975), novelist, playwright, essayist * Elisabetta Gnone (born 1965), children's writer * Simonetta Greggio (born 1961), novelist, writes in French * Amalia Guglielminetti (1881–1941), poet, letter writer *

Margherita Guidacci Margherita Guidacci (April 25, 1921 – June 19, 1992), was an Italian poet born in Florence, Italy. She graduated from the University of Florence in 1943 and traveled to England and Ireland in 1947. Guidacci married the sociologist Lucca Pinna ...

(1921–1992), poet, translator * Lucia Guerrini (1921–1990), classical scholar, archaeologist, writer and editor

J

Fleur Jaeggy Fleur Jaeggy (born 31 July 1940) is a Swiss author who writes in Italian. ''The'' ''Times Literary Supplement'' named ''Proleterka'' as a Best Book of the Year upon its US publication, and her ''Sweet Days of Discipline'' won the Premio Bagut ...

(born 1940), Swiss-born Italian-language novelist

M

* Maria-Antonietta Macciocchi (1922–2007), journalist, non-fiction writer * Alessandra Macinghi (1406–1471), letter writer * Clementina Laura Majocchi (1866–1945) *

Maria Majocchi Maria Majocchi, also spelled Maiocchi (23 April 1864 – 8 August 1917), was an Italian writer, journalist, and publisher. She wrote under several Pseudonyms, the most common being Jolanda, Viola d'Alba, and Margheritina di Cento. Biography ...

(1864–1917) writer, journalist, editor-in-chief * Laura Beatrice Mancini (1821–1869), poet, salonist *

Gianna Manzini Gianna Manzini (March 24, 1896 – August 31, 1974) was an Italian writer whose ''Ritratto in piedi'' won her the Premio Campiello in 1971. It is a semi-autobiographical portrait of her father, an Italian anarchist. After several banishments for ...

(1896–1974), novelist * Dacia Maraini (born 1936), novelist, playwright, poet, journalist * Faustina Maratti (c. 1679–1745), poet * Andrea Marcolongo (born 1987) Greek classics enthusiast * Lucrezia Marinella (1571–1653), poet, prose writer * Battista Malatesta (c. 1384–1448), Renaissance poet * Chiara Matraini (1515–1604), poet, religious writer *

Margaret Mazzantini Margaret Mazzantini (; born 27 October 1961) is an Italian-Irish writer and actress. She became a film, television and stage actor, but is best known as a writer. Mazzantini began her acting career in 1980 starring in the cult horror classic '' ...

(born 1961), actress, novelist * Melania Mazzucco (born 1966), author *

Diamante Medaglia Faini Diamante Medaglia Faini (28 August 1724 – 13 June 1770) was an Italian poet. She was a member of the academies Accademia degli Agiati (1751), Accademia degli Orditi in Padua, under the name Nisea Corcirense, and Accademia dell'Arcadia in Rome ...

(1724–1770), poet, madrigal composer * Alda Merini (1931–2009), revered poet * Maria Messina (1887–1944), short story writer and novelist *

Beatrice Monroy Beatrice Monroy (born 1953) is an Italian writer and dramatist. Biography Beatrice Monroy was born and lives in Palermo, having spent many years in various Italian cities and abroad in France and the United States. She is the daughter of Anna ...

(born 1953), author and dramatist *

Maria Montessori Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori ( , ; August 31, 1870 – May 6, 1952) was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy. At an early age, Montessori e ...

(1870–1952), educational writer *

Giuliana Morandini Giuliana Morandini (1938 – 22 July 2019) was an Italian writer. She was born in Udine and lived in Rome and Venezia. Her first book ''E allora mi hanno rinchiusa: testimonianze dal manicomio femminile'' (And so I was locked up: Testimony from a ...

(1938–2019), novelist, children's writer *

Elsa Morante Elsa Morante (; 18 August 191225 November 1985) was an Italian novelist, poet, translator and children's books author. Her novel '' La storia'' (''History'') is included in the Bokklubben World Library List of 100 Best Books of All Time. Life a ...

(1912–1985), novelist, short story writer, poet *

Marta Morazzoni Marta Morazzoni (born 1950) is an Italian educator and writer. She was born at Gallarate in Lombardy and studied philosophy at the University of Milan. She taught high school literature at Gallarate. She published ''La Ragazza col turbante'' (The ...

(born 1950), novelist, short story writer * Lisa Morpurgo (1923–1998), novelist * Isabella Morra (c. 1520–1545), Renaissance poet

N

* Ada Negri (1870–1945), poet, novelist * Giulia Niccolai (1934–2021), poet, novelist, translator

O

Anna Maria Ortese Anna Maria Ortese (; June 13, 1914 – March 9, 1998) was an Italian author of novels, short stories, poetry, and travel writing. Born in Rome, she grew up between southern Italy and Tripoli, with her formal education ending at age thirteen ...

(1914–1998), short story writer, poet

P

* Angeliki Palli (1798–1875), Greek-Italian playwright, novelist, poet, translator *

Melissa Panarello Melissa Panarello (born 3 December 1985, in Catania, Italy), alias Melissa P., is an Italian writer. Biography Panarello grew up in the small Sicilian town of Aci Castello, near Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second larg ...

(born 1985), erotic novelist * Valeria Parrella (born 1974), novelist, short story writer, playwright * Nicoletta Pasquale (16th century), poet * Jeanne Perego (born 1958), children's writer * Sandra Petrignani (born 1952), journalist, short story writer, novelist * Giulietta Pezzi (1810–1878), poet, novelist, playwright *

Fernanda Pivano Fernanda Pivano (18 July 1917 – 18 August 2009) was an Italian writer, journalist, translator and critic. Early life Pivano was born in Genoa in 1917. When she was a teenager she moved with her family to Turin where she attended the Massimo D ...

(1917–2009), journalist, biographer, critic, translator * Christine de Pizan (1364–c. 1430), courtly poet, wrote in French *

Antonia Pozzi Antonia Pozzi (13 February 1912 – 3 December 1938) was an Italian poet. Biography Antonia Pozzi was born in 1912 in Milan. She was the daughter of the lawyer Roberto Pozzi and Countess Lina Cavagna Sangiuliani di Gualdana. She entered the ...

(1912–1938), poet, diarist, translator * Antonia Tanini Pulci (1452/54–1501), early playwright

R

Fabrizia Ramondino Fabrizia Ramondino (1936–2008) was an Italian author who has many works "which includes and crosses the boundaries between poetry, novels, plays, travelogues, memoirs, confession, self-reflection, anthropological, cultural and linguistic comme ...

(1936–2008), novelist *

Lidia Ravera Lidia Ravera (born 6 February 1951 in Turin, Piedmont) is an Italian writer, journalist, essayist and screenwriter. Ravera has been a regular contributor to the italian edition of ''Cosmopolitan''. Her most popular novel, ''Porci con le ali'' ("''W ...

(born 1951), journalist, novelist, essayist, screenwriter * Marina Ripa Di Meana (1941–2018), autobiographical novelist * Eugenia Romanelli (born 1972), author, journalist * Lalla Romano (1906–2001), novelist, poet, journalist

S

Diodata Saluzzo Roero Diodata Saluzzo Roero (1774–1840) was an Italian poet, playwright and author of prose fiction. Her work drew praise from such figures as Tommaso Valperga di Caluso, Giuseppe Parini, Ludovico di Breme, Alessandro Manzoni, Vittorio Alfieri ...

(1774–1840), poet, novelist * Sara Santoro Bianchi (1950–2016), archaeologist and classical scholar * Patrizia Sanvitale (born 1951), journalist, novelist * Maria Antonia Scalera Stellini (1634–1704), poet, playwright *

Michela Schiff Giorgini Michela Schiff Giorgini née Beomonte (1923–1978) was an Italian archaeologist who is remembered for her extensive work in today's Sudan at Soleb on the River Nile where from 1957 she conducted excavations of the Temple of Amenhotep III. During ...

(1923–1978), Egyptologist, non-fiction writer *

Matilde Serao 200px, Matilde Serao, by "Rossi" Matilde Serao (; gr, Ματθίλδη Σεράο; 7 March 1856 – 25 July 1927) was an Italian journalist and novelist. She was the first woman called to edit an Italian newspaper, Il ''Corriere di Roma'' an ...

(1856–1927), Greek-born Italian journalist, novelist * Clara Sereni (1946–2018), autobiographical literature *

Ippolita Maria Sforza Ippolita Maria Sforza (18 April 1445 – 20 August 1488) was an Italian noblewoman, a member of the Sforza family which ruled the Duchy of Milan from 1450 until 1535. She was the first wife of the Duke of Calabria, who later reigned as King Alfo ...

(1446–1484), letter writer, poet * Gabriella Sica (born 1950), poet * Maria Luisa Spaziani (1923–2014), poet, translator, academic writer *

Gaspara Stampa Gaspara Stampa (1523 – 23 April 1554) was an Italian poet. She is considered to have been the greatest woman poet of the Italian Renaissance, and she is regarded by many as the greatest Italian woman poet of any age. Biography Gaspara's fa ...

(1523–1554), Renaissance poet *

Sara Copia Sullam Sarra Copia Sullam (1592–1641) was an Italian poet and writer who lived in Italy in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. She was Jewish and very well educated. Despite being married, for many years she had what appears to have been an extreme ...

(1592–1641), poet

T

* Susanna Tamaro (born 1957), novelist, children's writer * Clotilde Tambroni (1758–1817), philologist, poet * Laura Terracina (1519–c. 1577), poet * Maria Tore Barbina (1940–2007), poet, translator *

Maria Antonietta Torriani Maria Antonietta Torriani was an Italian journalist and fiction writer. Much of her work was published under the pen name Marchesa Colombi, a character in the comedy ''La satira e Parini'' by Paolo Ferrari. Early life and education She was bor ...

(1840–1920), journalist, novelist; pen name "Marchesa Colombi" *

Lucrezia Tornabuoni Lucrezia Tornabuoni (22 June 1427 – 25 March 1482) was an influential Italian political adviser and author during the 15th century. She was a member of one of the most powerful Italian families of the time and married Piero di Cosimo de' Medic ...

(1425–1482), poet * Cristina Trivulzio di Belgiojoso (1808–1871), non-fiction writer, journalist * Licia Troisi (born 1980), fantasy novelist

V

Patrizia Valduga Patrizia Valduga (born May 20, 1953 in Castelfranco Veneto) is an Italian poet and translator. She was born in Castelfranco Veneto in the province of Treviso. She studied medicine at the University of Padua, but after three years transferred to t ...

(born 1953), poet, translator * Maria Valtorta (1897–1961), poet, mystic *

Angela Veronese Angela Veronese (20 December 1778 - 8 October 1847) was an Italian poet. Biography Angela Veronese was born in Montebelluna, 20 December 1778. Her parents were Pietro Rinaldo and Lucia. When she was very young, she moved first to Treviso (in th ...

(1778–1847), poet * Grazia Verasani (born 1964), crime writer * Simona Vinci (born 1970), novelist, children's writer * Patrizia Vicinelli (1943–1991), poet, actress * Mitì Vigliero Lami (born 1957), journalist, poet, essayist, humorist * Isabella Vincentini (born 1954), poet, essayist, critic * Annie Vivanti (1866–1942), novelist, short story writer, playwright

Z

* Paola Zancani Montuoro (1901–1987), Italian archaeologist, writer and editor * Giovanna Zangrandi (1910–1988), novelist * Luisa Zeni (1896–1940), secret agent, writer

References

External links

Italian Women Writers database from the University of Chicago
{{Lists of women writers by nationality - Italian women writers, List of Writers, List of Italian Women writers, List of Italian Italian literature-related lists

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

J

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

V

Z

See also

References

External links