Melania Gaia Mazzucco (born 6 October 1966)[1] is an Italian author. She is a recipient of theStrega Prize andBagutta Prize.
Mazzucco graduated from theCentro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in 1990 and theSapienza University of Rome with a degree in History of Modern and Contemporary Literature in 1992. In the 1990s, she wrote several screenplays before publishing her first novelIl bacio della Medusa in 1996.[1]
Her 2003 novelVita was awarded theStrega Prize.[2] The novel tells the story of two children from a rural Italian village, Diamante aged twelve and Vita aged nine, who emigrate to New York. It was translated into English byVirginia Jewiss.[3]
Afilm adaptation of Mazzucco's 2005 novelUn giorno perfetto was released in 2008. It was directed byFerzan Özpetek[4] and was entered in the65th Venice International Film Festival.[5]
In 2008, Mazzucco published the first of two volumes on the Renaissance painterTintoretto calledLa lunga attesa dell’angelo which won aBagutta Prize. The second volume,Jacomo Tintoretto e i suoi figli: storia di una famiglia veneziana, was published in 2009.[1]
