Paolo Giordano [ Italy ]

Paolo Giordano was born in Turin in 1982 as the son of a gynaecologist and an English teacher. He attended the »Gino Segré« school there and graduated from university in physics. While studying for his final exams, he discovered his interest in writing as a hobby. At first he wrote short sto - ries, which were mostly thematically concerned with childhood.

Last year he published his first novel, »La solitudine dei numeri primi« (2008; English edition to be published in 2009: The Solitude of Prime Numbers), which immediately brought him a sensational breakthrough as an author. The novel was the best-selling book in Italy in the year of its publica - tion. At its heart, this coming-of-age story is a love story between two tragic protagonists. Both are marked by childhood experiences which make them outsiders: Alice is driven by fear of her tyran nical father to a skiing accident which leaves her with a serious leg injury. Physically branded by this, she has a permanent limp and struggles both with herself and her fate. Mattia, on the other hand, lost his mentally handicapped twin sister after having been careless for the first time, when looking after her for a few hours – he leaves her alone in a park in order to attend a birthday party without her.

To deal with his guilt he takes refuge in the world of numbers and formulae. Both characters be - come loners due to these experiences, and their loneliness offers them protection both from so - ciety and themselves. They get to know each other at school and are drawn to each other’s loneliness – like two prime numbers (11 and 13, for example) they are close to each other. Yet, something always stands between them. In clear, poetic prose, both sober and stirring, Giordano charts their paths through life from school days into adulthood. On his way he again and again finds striking images of how our childhood dramas live on inside us. The author’s idols are English and American writers like David Foster Wallace and Ian McEwan, who, in Giordano’s own words, provided inspiration for his own treatment of the theme of childhood in the novel »The Child in Time« (1987), which deals with childhood, loss and quantum physics.

Paolo Giordano was awarded the Premio Strega Prize for his début novel, the most renowned Italian literary prize. The success of his novel has by no means distracted him from his scientific career: he is currently working on his doctorate in particle physics. He lives in Turin.

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