Roberto Piumini author page

Roberto Piumini biography

Roberto Piumini is an Italian author celebrated for his extensive contribution to children’s and young adult literature. He was born in Edolo in Lombardy in 1947. He earned a degree in pedagogy from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan in 1970.

From 1967 to 1973, Piumini taught in middle and secondary schools in the Varese area, and he led seminars in expressive dynamics, poetic writing and theatrical techniques. He also worked as an actor with Teatro Uomo (Milan) and La Loggetta (Brescia), and for a year practised puppetry.

His publishing career began in 1978 with his first book, Il giovane che entrava nel palazzo, which won the Cento Prize in 1979. Over subsequent decades, he has authored fairy tales, poems, novels, plays, song lyrics, librettos, adaptations, translations, radio and television texts, across more than seventy Italian publishers.

Titles translated into English include The Tortoise and the Hare, The Selfish Giant and Glowrushes (the English version of Lo stralisco). His books have been translated into numerous languages and published internationally.

He received the Rodari Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. One of his novels for young readers, Motu-Iti. L’isola dei gabbiani, won the Rattenfänger Literaturpreis in 1998.