STREGA PRIZE WINNER PAOLO GIORDANO’S AUSTRALIAN TOUR

The Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney is pleased to support the Australian Tour of the writer and physicist Paolo Giordano. The author’s Australian agenda includes four dates and four locations – 22 October in Brisbane, at the Italian Language Centre; 24 October in Sydney, at the Italian Cultural Institute, 29 October in Canberra, at the Harry Hartog Library and 31 October at the University of Melbourne.

Paolo Giordano is an Italian writer who won the Premio Strega literary award with his first novel, The Solitude of Prime Numbers. This award is a testament to the exceptional quality of his writing and its impact on the literary landscape. The novel sold millions of copies and has been translated into more than thirty languages, solidifying Giordano's status as a rising literary star.

Giordano studied physics at the University of Turin and holds a PhD in theoretical particle physics. His skills and versatility were evident already in the period before the publication of his first novel. While studying as part of a research team, the young physicist from Turin was active in the scientific field but also nurtured his passion for writing. In 2006 – 2007, Giordano attended two external courses at the Scuola Holden, founded and directed by the renowned writer Alessandro Baricco.

In 2006, Paolo Giordano travelled to Congo to visit a project run by Doctors without Borders. The focus of the intervention was to provide assistance to AIDS patients and the prostitutes in the Masina neighbourhood. This experience had a profound impact on Giordano, influencing his later work. His short story, Mundele, narrates this poignant experience. He presented the story in 2008 at the Officina Italia Festival in Milan, marking a significant moment in his early literary career.

In the same year, he published the Premio Strega award novel, becoming the youngest author to have won the prestigious prize. The Solitude of Prime Numbers also won the Merck Serono Literary Prize in 2008. This award is given to works that successfully intertwine science and literature. A particularly significant recognition, further reinforcing his unique ability to bridge his scientific background with his literary talent.

In the years that followed, Giordano published several works, including three novels, The Human Body (2012), Like Family (2014), Heaven and Earth (2018), and the essay, How Contagion Works (2020).

In 2022, after 4 years from his previous novel, Giordano publishes Tasmania. A stunning return to fiction, the semi-autobiographical novel captures the fear, anxiety, wonder, and beauty of this time of uncertainty and upheaval, exploring how we can create and maintain relationships with other people when it feels increasingly difficult to connect.