Affinati Eraldo

Eraldo Affinati, a writer and teacher, was born in Rome in 1956. Among his books, all edited by Mondadori, we remember Campo del sangue (1997); Un teologo contro Hitler. Sulle tracce di Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2002); La città dei ragazzi (2008); Peregrin d’amore. Sotto il cielo degli scrittori d’Italia (2010); Elogio del ripetente (2013); L’uomo del futuro. Sulle strade di don Lorenzo Milani (2016).
He founded, together with his wife Anna Luce Lenzi, Penny Wirton, an Italian school for immigrants.

Eraldo Affinati, writer and teacher, was born in Rome in 1956, where he lives and works. He is also a literary critic, essayist and journalist. He studied Literature and graduated with a thesis on Silvio D’Arzo. Alongside his teaching and literary production, he carries out an intense activity as a lecturer and trainer.
In 2008, together with his wife Anna Luce Lenzi, he founded the Penny Wirton School for the free teaching of the Italian language to migrants, a school spread over more than fifty locations nationwide. He dedicated this school to Silvio D’Arzo, the author on whom he graduated. His knowledge of the issues of immigration and social marginality, also acquired through his experience as a teacher, is reflected in texts such as the autobiographical La città dei ragazzi (2008) and the essays Elogio del ripetente (2013) and Via dalla pazza classe. Educating for a living (2019).
Among his many works, the first essay is Vigil of Arms. Tolstoy’s Man (1992), followed by his narrative debut with the autobiographical novel 1956 Soldiers (1993). The novel Bandiera bianca (1995) marked his breakthrough on the contemporary Italian literary scene and was awarded the Bergamo Prize. With Campo del sangue (1997) he was a finalist for the Strega and Campiello awards. He won the Palmi Prize with the collection of short stories Uomini pericolosi (1998), the Pisa Prize with Il nemico negli occhi (2001) and the Omegna ‘Della Resistenza’ Prize with Un teologo contro Hitler. On the tracks of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2002). He won the Grinzane Cavour Prize in 2005 with Secoli di gioventù (2004), a previous finalist in the same prize. La città dei ragazzi (2008) won the Volponi Prize, and Peregrin d’amore (2010) the SGI Viaggio in Italia Prize. The Man of the Future. Sulle strade di don Lorenzo Milani (2016) was a finalist for the Premio Strega and won the Premio Letterario Basilicata. The essay Via dalla pazza classe (2019) received the Tantucci Prize, while I meccanismi dell’odio (2020) is a dialogue with Marco Gatto. The novel The Gospel of Angels (2021) was a finalist for the Comisso Prize, and his literary autobiography Dolphins, Banners, Cannonades (2023) won the De Sanctis Prize. He edited the complete edition of Mario Rigoni Stern’s works for ‘I Meridiani’.
In 2021, he was appointed Commendatore della Repubblica Italiana per motu proprio by President Sergio Mattarella. He has received several lifetime achievement awards, including the Cesare Pavese Prize in 2020 and the Luciano Bianciardi Prize in 2023.