Gianfranco Calligarichwas born in Asmara, Eritrea and grew up in Milan before moving to Rome where he worked as a journalist and screenwriter. He wrote many successful TV shows for Rai, the national public broadcasting company of Italy, and founded the Teatro XX Secolo in 1994. He is author of many novels, including La malinconia dei Crusich, which was the winner of the Viareggio Rèpaci Prize. Last Summer in the City is the first of his novels to be translated into English. Howard Curtis lives in Norwich, and has translated more than a hundred books from French, Italian, and Spanish.