Stories Under the Tree

Pierdomenico Baccalario has been writing children’s novels since 1997, when he won the Il Battello a Vapore literary prize with La strada del Guerriero (The Way of the Warrior) using his neighbour’s name. Since then, his bestsellers have been written under as many pseudonyms (the best known being Ulysses Moore and Irene Adler), translated into more than thirty languages and published with major Italian and foreign publishers. He has collaborated with Lucca Comics & Games for more than twenty years, has written for Repubblica, and is a columnist for the newspaper Corriere della Sera’s La Lettura literary supplement. In 2014, he founded the Book on a Tree creative agency in London.

An author whose books have been translated into 25 languages, in Italy Davide Morosinotto won the Super Andersen Prize in 2017 with Il Rinomato Catalogo Walker&Dawn (The Pocket Watch Gang), Mondadori, and the Strega Children’s Prize 2021 with La Più Grande (The Greatest), Rizzoli, with which he also entered the IBBY Honour List 2021. A finalist at the prestigious Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis and winner of the Penzberger Urmel in Germany, he has also won the Prix des Bouquineurs en Seine and the Grand Prix des Lecteurs du Journal de Mickey in France, the Vlag en Wimpel and the Zilveren Griffel in Holland, the KJV in Flanders, the Protagonista Jove prize in Catalonia and he was nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2022 in the United Kingdom.

Andrea Tullio Canobbio is a researcher and Italian language teacher. He currently works at the University of Pavia. Since 2013, he has been combining his research and teaching activity with working as a children’s author, collaborating with the Book on a Tree circle of authors. His latest books include La nascita del computer (EL) and Il merlo canta libero (Solferino), co-written with Alessandro Gatti.

Elena Peduzzi lives in Milan. She has a degree in Classics with an archaeological specialisation and has worked in editing children's books for Mondadori. She is a ghostwriter and author of novels published by the main Italian publishing houses and translated into numerous languages. She has recently published Uomini d’amore (Men of Love) for Solferino and Amore, sesso e altre cose così (Love, Sex and Other Such Things) with Fiore Manni for Rizzoli.

Andrea Pau has been cluttering up Sardinia since 1981. He writes comics, children’s novels, cartoons, books under other people’s names. He has collaborated, among others, with Einaudi Ragazzi (Fiume Europa [River Europe] co-written with Andrea Atzori, 2019); DeAgostini (Dinoamici, 2013); Solferino (Nome di Battaglia Magda, 2019); Sergio Bonelli Editore (Bonelli Kids: il Re dei Troll [The King of Trolls], 2020); and Lapis Edizioni (Lorenzo Lodato e il conto alla rovescia [Percy Praised and the Countdown], 2021).

Gisella Laterza lives in Bergamo, or more precisely, in a cafe in the centre of Bergamo where she spends her time writing. When she’s not writing, she teaches Italian and Latin in a high school in the city and runs creative writing courses for boys and girls aged 6 to 99. She has published novels, short stories for school anthologies, biographies and a rewriting of The Divine Comedy for boys and girls for the I Classicini series (EL, 2022). Streghetta (My Friend is a Witch), Salani 2022, is her most successful series and has also been translated into Spanish (Duomo Ediciones).

Veruska Motta has been collaborating with Book on a Tree as a children’s author and ghostwriter since 2018. She’s a storyteller and PR specialist, and has been working for more than 18 years in the world of communication and cultural events, in particular with literary, educational and pop culture festivals. She has always loved books and comics, travel, cinema, TV series, and cats. And dinosaurs (Jurassic Park is to blame).

Marco Pelliccioli is a poet and writer. With regards to fiction, he has published A due passi dal treno (shortlisted for the Italo Calvino Prize 2014) and been included in Racconti sotto l’albero (Stories Under the Tree), Gallucci, 2022. For poetry: L’orfano (Gialla Pordenonelegge Series, 2016), L’inganno della superficie (Stampa2009, 2019) and Giovane poesia italiana (Pordenonelegge, 2020), translated into English, French, Spanish and German.

Azzurra D’Agostino was born and lives in a small town in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. She has published several poetry collections (for which she has received the Carducci Prize, the Ciampi Valigie Rosse Prize and was a finalist at the Viareggio-Repaci Prize), and writes for theatre both for adults and children. She had published the picture books Piccoli amori, Intervista alla felicità, Luce and Poesie della neve. She curated Da grande voglio fare il poeta, an anthology of poems written by children – the results of workshops held throughout Italy. Her first children’s novel was released in October 2020: Il giardini dei desideri ("The Garden of Wishes"). In 2023, the palmistry deck she designed was released, with an instruction booklet, Oracolo del destino and picture book for very young children Ciao Nido!. In addition to writing, she runs poetry workshops for people of all ages.

A screenwriter, director, writer and film critic, Manlio Castagna has also been involved in the artistic direction of the Giffoni Film Festival for more than 20 years. He made his debut in children’s fiction in 2018 with the bestselling Petrademone trilogy (Mondadori), which has been translated into several languages. Since then, he has explored many different genres: from historical fantasy with La notte delle malombre (The Night of the Malombre) and Draconis Chronicon, to horror with Goodwill and Le Belve (The Beasts), passing through the “story” of cinema with the manual 116 film da vedere prima dei 16 anni (116 Films To See Before You’re 16) and the novel Dedalo & Dharma, up to social noir with Barriera (all for the Mondadori group). La reincarnazione delle sorelle Klun (The Reincarnation of the Klun Sisters) and Prova a non dormire (Try Not to Sleep) are his adult fiction books. In 2022, he made his film debut as a director and screenwriter with “Il viaggio degli eroi”, produced by Rai Cinema and rewarded with record audience numbers on Rai1.

Igor De Amicis was born in Rome in 1976. Chief Commissioner of the Penitentiary Police, he shares his passion for writing with his wife Paola Luciani. Together they have written Giù nella miniera (Down the Mine), selected for the Bancarellino Prize 2017 reading project and winner of the Special Children’s Prize at the Parco Majella Prize 2017. Also for Einaudi Ragazzi, they have written Fugees Football Club, Igor Trocchia. A calcio al razzismo (Igor Trocchia. A Kick to Racism), Roberto Mancini nella terra dei fuochi (Roberto Mancini in the Ground of the Fires), L’ultima verità (The Ultimate Truth) and various titles of the Classicini, Grandissimi and Che storia! series. For Il Battello a Vapore, they have published Il mistero delle lettere senza nome (The Mystery of the Nameless Letters). Igor has also published several noir novels for adults, including La settima lapide (Dea Planeta), O’ Regno (Salani) and Gioventù criminale (Criminal Youth), Piemme. Paola has also published several essays and monographs on the world of education. The pair’s books have been translated in several countries (Greece, Spain, Poland, South America, Japan, Germany, etc.)

Paola Luciani was born in Pescara in 1980. A support teacher in primary schools, she invents, imagines and writes her stories together with her husband Igor De Amicis. Together they have written Giù nella miniera (Down the Mine), selected for the Bancarellino Prize 2017 reading project and winner of the Special Children’s Prize at the Parco Majella Prize 2017. Also for Einaudi Ragazzi, they have written Fugees Football Club, Igor Trocchia. A calcio al razzismo (Igor Trocchia. A Kick to Racism), Roberto Mancini nella terra dei fuochi (Roberto Mancini in the Ground of the Fires), L’ultima verità (The Ultimate Truth) and various titles of the Classicini, Grandissimi and Che storia! series. For Il Battello a Vapore, they have published Il mistero delle lettere senza nome (The Mystery of the Nameless Letters). Igor has also published several noir novels for adults, including La settima lapide (Dea Planeta), O’ Regno (Salani) and Gioventù criminale (Criminal Youth), Piemme. Paola has also published several essays and monographs on the world of education. The pair’s books have been translated in several countries (Greece, Spain, Poland, South America, Japan, Germany, etc.)

Christian Antonini is an author of books for both children and adults, with a passion for history, adventure, and fantasy. He grew up surrounded by books, comics, and games. His novel Fuorigioco a Berlino (Giunti) won the Premio Bancarellino in 2017 and the Premio Il Gigante delle Langhe. In 2023, he was included in the Italian IBBY Honour List with La Musica nelle Ossa (Mondadori).

Giuseppe D’Anna is a writer, graphic designer and illustrator. Not necessarily in that order. Having arrived in the dark lands of publishing as a ghost writer of other people’s books, at a certain point he decided to start writing his own. These include Voglio fare lo strego (The Boy Born a Witch), his first real children’s novel. Warning: his stories may contain traces of magic and wordplay. Keep out of reach of adults.

Marco Ponti is a writer, director and screenwriter. His films include the cult movie Santa Maradona (winner of two David di Donatello awards), the great successes with audiences Io che amo solo te and La cena di Natali based on the novels by Luca Bianchini, and La Bella Stagione (winner of a Nastro d’Argento), created with Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Mancini and the Sampdoria players who achieved the epic feat of winning the football championship in 1991 and remained lifelong friends. He has also published the novels Alice resta a casa (Alice Stays at Home) with Manlio Castagna, winner of the Watty 2020 for the best Young Adult story on Wattpad, R – Ribelli, revoluzione e rock ‘n’ roll (R – Rebels, Revolution and Rock ‘n’ Roll) with Christian Hill, and the ghost book series that began with Ombre che camminano and continues with La città delle streghe.