Domenico Starnone

Said to be his masterpiece, the novel centers on a Neopolitan train conductor, Federí, facing a life filled with frustration, who unloads his dissatisfaction on his wife and eldest son, the novel's narrator. Translated into English by Oonagh Stransky, The House on Via Gemito was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2024. His thirteenth work of fiction, Ties, was his second to be translated into English and was awarded the Bridge Prize in 2017, The Bridge Book Award project seeks to unite Italian and American cultures and strengthen mutual understanding. In reports dated 2006 (by Luigi Galella), and more recent work in 2017 by Arjuna Tuzzi and Michele A. Cortelazzo of the University of Padova, Starnone—or alternatively, his wife, Anita Raja—has been proposed as the author writing under the pen name, Elena Ferrante. In published interviews, Ferrante has dismissed the allegations: "My identity, my sex can be found in my writing."

• Name — Domenico Starnone • Birthplace — Saviano, Naples • Born — 15 February 1943 • Years Active — 1970-present • Spouse — Anita Raja • Children — Viola Starnone • Occupation — Novelist, journalist, teacher and screenwriter Domenico Starnone (born 15 February 1943) is an Italian writer, screenwriter, and journalist.

Domenico Starnone was born on 15 February 1943 in Saviano in Campania, roughly 25 kilometers northeast of Naples. His father Federico Starnone was a struggling, self-taught Neapolitan painter and his mother was called Rosa.

Starnone is a prolific author, having penned at least 22 works since 1987. He has been quoted in an online interview saying 'writing isn't just fun...the best books are the ones that hurt us.' Translations of his novels from Italian into English include Prima esecuzione (2007) as First Execution (2009), Lacci (2014) as Ties (2017), Scherzetto (2016) as Trick (2018), and Confidenza (2019) as Trust or Secrets (2019). His novel Via Gemito (The House on Via Gemito) won the Premio Strega in 2001.

In 2006, Luigi Galella claimed that computer analysis of textual style supported the conclusion that Starnone was in fact Elena Ferrante. In 2016, Italian journalist Claudio Gatti published a further claim that Anita Raja, Starnone's wife, had received financial benefits commensurate with the best-selling Naples Quartet and that she must be their author. A two-part journalistic investigation by Gatti was commissioned by Il Sole 24 Ore and scheduled to appear on October 2, 2016 in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the French website Mediapart In a collection of interviews published in 2016, the Frantumaglia: A Writer's Journey, Ferrante addressed the speculations, writing that she and Starnone were "tired of everyone asking if he's Ferrante." In 2017, Arjuna Tuzzi and Michele A. Cortelazzo of the University of Padova, Italy compared the use of language by Elena Ferrante in 7 published novels to 150 novels by 39 Italian writers over 30 years. Starnone strenuously denies that he is Elena Ferrante. In several interviews he claimed that his wife, himself, and most of the millions of readers of the Neapolitan Novels find these investigations boring, disrespectful and irrelevant.

Starnone is married to literary translator Anita Raja. They have one daughter. In May 2024 he was awarded Honorary Citizenship of Saviano where he was born, as part of a Cultural initiative to honour distinguished writers. "Domenico Starnone makes us proud and excited" said the Mayor, Vincenzo Simonelli.

• 1987, Ex cattedra, Il Manifesto Rossoscuola Ed. • 1989, Il salto con le aste, Universale Economica. • 1990, Denti, Feltrinelli. • 1990, Segni d'oro, Feltrinellli. • 1992, Sottobanco, Edizioni e/o. • 1994, Eccesso di zelo, Feltrinelli. • 1995, Fuori registro, Feltrinelli. • 1995, Appunti sulla maleducazione di un insegnante volenteroso, Generico. • 1996, La retta via, Feltrinelli. • 1996, Fuori Registro, Feltrinelli. • 2000, Via Gemito (The House on Via Gemito), Feltrinelli. • 2001, La collega Passamaglia, Gabriele e Mariateresa Benincasa Ed. • 2002, Alice allo Strega • 2005, Labilità • 2007, Ex cattedra e altre storie di scuola • 2007, Prima esecuzione • 2009, Spavento • 2010, Fare scene. Una storia di cinema • 2010, Autobiografia erotica di Aristide Gambìa, Einaudi. • 2014, Lacci (Ties) • 2016, Scherzetto (Trick) • 2018, Le false resurrezioni, Einaudi. • 2019, Confidenza (Trust), Einaudi. • 2021, Vita mortale e immortale della bambina di Milano (The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan), Einaudi • 2024, Il Vecchio al Mare, (The Old Man by the Sea), Einaudi.