Susanna Tamaro

Susanna Tamaro was born in a middle class family in Trieste. Her mother is related to the Italian writer Italo Svevo. In 1976 Tamaro obtained a teaching diploma, and she received a scholarship to study at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, an Italian school of cinema, where she obtained a diploma in direction.

In 1978, she started writing her first short stories and in 1981 she wrote her first novel: Illmitz. It was rejected by all the publishing houses she approached and remains unpublished.

In the 1980s she collaborated with RAI.

In 1989, her novel La testa fra le nuvole (Head in Clouds) was published by Marsilio. She fell ill with asthmatic bronchitis and was forced to move from Rome to Orvieto, in Umbria. Her second novel Per voce sola (Just For One Voice) (1991) won the International PEN prize and was translated into several languages. In 1991, she wrote a book for children Cuore di ciccia.

In 1994, she wrote Va' dove ti porta il cuore (in English Follow your Heart). The book was an international bestseller and it became the "Italian book most sold in the 20th century".[1] The plot of Follow Your Heart revolves around Olga, an elderly woman who decides to write a long letter to her granddaughter in America. Olga reflects on her life and reveals to her granddaughter their family's secrets. This novel was translated into more than 35 languages. In 1996, the Italian director, Cristina Comencini, made a film based on the novel. In 2006, she wrote Ascolta la mia voce (Listen to my voice), a sequel of Follow your Heart. This novel was translated in twelve languages.

From 1996 to 1998 she contributed to Famiglia Cristiana, a popular Italian magazine. In 1997, she published the novel "Anima Mundi," chronicling the story of a friendship between two women.

In 2001 she wrote Raccontami; in 2002 Più fuoco, più vento; in 2003 Fuori. In this novel, Tamaro revealed her position as pro-life, euthanasia and scientific research on embryos. She is largely sympathetic to the position taken by the Catholic Church on these topics.

In 2008, she published Luisito- A Love Story.

In September 2018 she announced the release of her next book and anticipated that in it she tells of being affected by Asperger syndrome since the early years of life.[2]

• Prize Italo Calvino for "La testa fra le nuvole" (1989)
• Prize Elsa Morante for La testa fra le nuvole (1990)
• International PEN for "Per voce sola" (1991)
• Rapallo Carige Prizefor women writers for "Per voce sola" (1992)
• Prize Cento for Il cerchio magico (1995)
• Honorary Golden Dante of A.L. "Bocconi d'Inchiostro" - Bocconi University for her outstanding career (2013)

• La testa tra le nuvole (1989) Elsa Morante prize.
• Per voce sola (1991) International PEN prize.
• Cuore di ciccia (1992)
• Il cerchio magico (1994)
• Follow your Heart (1994)
• Anima Mundi (1997)
• Cara Mathilda. Lettere a un'amica (1997)
• Tobia e l'angelo (1998)
• Verso casa (1999)
• Papirofobia (2000)
• Rispondimi (2001)
• Più fuoco più vento (2002)
• Fuori (2003)
• Ogni parola è un seme (2005)
• Ascolta la mia voce (2007)
• Luisito - Una storia d'amore (2008)
• Il grande albero (2009)
• Per sempre, (2011)
• L' isola che c'è. Il nostro tempo, l'Italia, i nostri figli (2011).
• Ogni angelo è tremendo,(2013)
• Via Crucis. Meditazioni e preghiere, (2013) (E-book)
• Un'infanzia: adattamento teatrale di Adriano Evangelisti, (2013) (E-book)
• Sulle orme di San Francesco, (2014) (E-book)
• Illmitz, (2014)
• Salta Bart!, (2014)
• Un cuore pensante, (2015)
• Il tuo sguardo illumina il mondo (2018)

Sources:

*titles at the Italian OPAC

*titles on Google Books

• Nel mio amore (2004)

• Official website
• International PEN
• Susanna Tamaro on IMDb