Nicola Pugliese was born in Milan in 1944, but lived almost all his life in Naples. A journalist like his father, he wrote for many years for the journal Rome. In 1977, discovered by Italo Calvino, he published his first novel, Malacqua, which attracted a great deal of attention but inexplicably went through only a single edition. Pugliese withdrew from public life, but in 2008 published his second book, La Nave Nera, a collection of short stories published by Compagnia dei trovatori in Naples. He died in 2012.
Shaun Whiteside’s translations from Italian include Q, 54, Manituana and Altai by Luther Blissett/Wu Ming Foundation, The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano, 50 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed by Melissa Panarello and Venice is a Fish and Stabat Mater by Tiziano Scarpa. He also translates from French, German and Dutch. He lives in London.