Dacia Maraini is today's most prominent Italian writer. She's won, among others, both Campiello and Strega prizes, which are the most prestigious Italian literature awards. Her books have been translated into 22 languages and some of her bestsellers - such as Storia di Piera [Piera's Story], L'eta del malessere [The Age of Malaise], La lunga vita di Marianna Ucria [The Silent Duchess], Voci [Voices], and Memorie di una ladra [Memories of a Thief] - were turned into successful movies. Writing like Breathing is a unique collection comprising some of her most important works, the majority of which have never been translated into English. The series is divided into four major volumes that are meant to give a full picture of Maraini's production from 1962 to the present: I. Autobiography, novels, short stories and poems; II. Plays; III. Articles; IV. Essays, talks and interviews. Writing like Breathing shows how the finest Italian woman writer alive today has embraced and fought for a vast number of issues: women's rights, abuse of women and children, emigration, discrimination, politics, the Holocaust, among many others.
Moreover, this collection of Maraini's autobiographies, novels, short stories, and poems, emphasises the author's long relationship with Japan and the United States, countries to which she has devoted several books and articles, both autobiographical and fictional. Some unpublished manuscripts enrich this unique first volume: two short stories ("A Christmas in the Snow Globe" and "Aylan") and three poems ("At Night", "Rome", "Like Sea Bass Underwater"). The other volumes contain unpublished plays ("Diotima and Socrates," "My Name is Antonino Calderone," "Celia Carli, Ornithologist", and "Lia, Who Thought Herself Antigone"), essays, talks, conversations, and interviews given by the author at American universities.