Born inRome, after Albinati started his career as a translator, a script adaptor and editor of the magazineNuovi Argomenti. He made his debut as a writer in 1988, with a collection of short stories titledArabeschi della vita morale. His 1989 novelIl polacco lavatore di vetri was adapted into a film,The Ballad of the Windshield Washers byPeter Del Monte.[1] Since the mid-1990s he has worked at theRebibbia prison as a teacher.[2] In 2002 and in 2004 he took part to twoUN High Commission for Refugees missions in Afghanistan and Chad, also writing several reports published by the newspapersCorriere della Sera andLa Repubblica.[2]
In 2004 Albinati won theViareggio Prize with the novelSvenimenti. In 2006 he co-wrote with actorFilippo Timi the novelTuttalpiù muoio, which later Timi adapted into a stage drama. In 2015 he collaborated withMatteo Garrone for the screenplay of the fantasy filmTale of Tales. In 2016 he won theStrega Prize with the semi-autobiographical novelLa scuola cattolica.[1][2]
Selected English Translations
Coming Back: Diary of a Mission to Afghanistan (2014, trans. Howard Curtis)
