Biography
Guia Risari was born in 1971 in Milan, where she studied Classics and graduated in Ethics at Università Statale with a dissertation on Jean Améry and worked as an educationalist and a journalist for L'Unità.
She specialized in Modern Jewish Studies at Leeds University carrying on researches on Saadia, Maimonides, Mendelsohn, Rosenzweig, Lévinas, Jabès, Rawicz, Bauman, Rose and an M.A. dissertation on Italian antisemitism.
Later, she moved to France where, while writing and translating, she taught and carried on researches in Socio-criticism, History, Oral Literature and Comparative Migration Literature. She collaborated with the Centre d'Études et Recherches Sociocritiques of the Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier, the Laboratoire Lettres, Languages et Arts of the Université Le Mirail in Toulouse, the Centre d'Etudes Internationales Francophones of La Sorbonne in Paris and with the Chair of Letterature Comparate of La Sapienza in Rome.
She has dedicated lectures and articles to Levi, Améry, Benjamin, Rawicz, published on "QOL", "Materiali di Estetica","Golem", and held conferences in various universities on Ethics, Shoah and Migrants' literature.
She has published two essays: The Document Within the Walls. The Romance of Bassani (Troubador Publishing 1998, 2nd ed. 2004) on the myth of the "good Italian" under the Fascist rule and Jean Améry. Il risentimento come morale (F. Angeli 2002; 2nd ed. Castelvecchi 2016) on resentment in Western Philosophy, awarded with five literary prizes.
She translated English and French essays and novels for Feltrinelli, e/o, Alet, Giuntina, White Star. Among them, Respire by A.-S. Brasme (Fayard 2001; Feltrinelli 2002, 2nd ed. Kowalski-Apogeo 2008), L'aîné des Orphelins by T. Monénembo (Seuil 2000, Prix Tropiques 2000; Feltrinelli 2003), Du Mercure sous la langue and La mer de la tranquillité by S. Trudel (Les Allusifs 2001; Alet 2010), Homo herectus by T. Benacquista (Gallimard 2011; e/o 2012). She translated and edited La Vie scélérate by M. Condé (Seghers 1987, Prix Anäis-Ségalas de l'Académie Française 1988; e/o 2004) and Le sang du ciel by Piotr Rawicz (Gallimard 1961; Giuntina 2006), a masterwork of the Post-modern Holocaust literature.
She translated and edited books on poetry and ecology, such as L'Afrique...petit Chaka by M. Sellier (ill. M. Lesage, Réunion de Musées Nationaux 2000, Prix Sorcières 2001; L'Ippocampo 2005, Premio Andersen 2006), Les fables de La Fontaine (ill. T. Dedieu, Seuil 2009; L'Ippocampo 2010), You can save the planet by J. Wines (ill. S. Horne, Buster Books 2007; Edt-Giralangolo 2007, several books of the collection Paesi e Popoli (Grandir; Edt-Giralangolo, Premio Andersen 2008 and various books for Ape Junior, Salani and Nord-Sud, such as The Boy Who Climbed into the Moon by D. Almond (Candelwick 2010; Salani 2012) and Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by D. Benedictus (Egmont 2009; Nord-Sud 2009), a following to the original stories of Winnie-the-Pooh.
She is the author of many short stories, published in magazines and anthologies. Amongst them, Digestione ("Sagarana", n. 2, 2001), Il segreto di Miguel la Lune (www.garzantilibri.it/articoli), 25 dicembre 1998 e Il vestito di Juanita ("Nuova Prosa", n. 31, 2001), Diario di Milaidis De Los Angeles Casanova Carmina (Le Notti, Empirìa 2003; Premio Ortese 2002), Le ore di Busan (Disarmonie, Comitato Internazionale 8 Marzo 2003, Premio "Lune di Primavera" 2003), L'alieno ("Prospektiva", n. 24, 2003; Premio "Una lettera contro il razzismo" 2002), L'interprete (Donne Sommerse, Prospettiva 2003; Premio "Ideadonna" 2003), L'editto ("Liberalia", n. 4, 2006), Pecore in Terra Santa ("La luna di traverso", n. 20, 2008), In quella strada ("La nuova Palatina", n. 2, giu. 2009), La moglie di Barbablù ("La luna di traverso", n. 27, 2010), Quarto di luna (Miele e latte sotto la tua pelle, Compagnia delle lettere 2011), Il soffio millenario (Aria, Mediagraf, 2012), Intervista inedita a Elizabeth Costello ("Nuova Prosa", n. 58, 2012), I giorni della prigione ("Nuova Prosa", n. 66, 2016).
For children, she has published Pane e Oro (ill. C. Mariniello, F. C. Panini 2004), La macchina di Celestino (ill. C. Mariniello, Lapis 2006), Aquiles el puntito (ill. M. Taeger, Kalandraka 2006; Kalandraka-Italia 2008), Il Cavaliere che pestò la coda al drago (ill. I. Urbinati, Edt-Giralangolo 2008), La terre respire (ill. A. Sanna, MeMo 2008), La coda canterina (ill. V. Lopiz, Topipittori 2010), Gli occhiali fantastici (ill. S. Rea, F. C. Panini 2010), Le chat âme (ill. G. Herbéra, MeMo 2010), Le Petit Chaperon bleu (ill. C. Pollet, Le Baron Perché 2012), El regalo de la giganta (ill. B. Martín Terceño, A Buen Paso 2013; Il regalo della gigantessa, Buk Buk 2015), Je m'appelle Nako (ill. M. Dulain, Le Baron Perché 2014), El vuelo de la familia Knitter (ill. A. Castagnoli, A Buen Paso 2016; Il volo della famiglia Knitter, Bohem Press 2016), Se fossi un uccellino (ill. S. Mulazzani, ELI edizioni 2016), Il pigiama verde (ill. A. Alemanno, Coccole books 2016), I tre porcellini d'India (ill. V. Valente, ELI edizioni 2017).
Among her surrealistic texts are Il pesce spada e la serratura (ill. F. T. Altan, Beisler 2007) and L'alfabeto dimezzato (ill. C. Carrer, Beisler 2007).
Amongst her poetic texts, Etoiles (Le 57, Prix "Festival" 2000), Quattro Stagioni (Annuario di poesia italiana 2003, A. Stango 2002), Nuit Palestinienne and J'ai vu ("Témoignages", mar. 2003), L'esule (Antologia del Premio Internazionale Città di Tocco da Casauria, Nobs 2003), Il sogno (I Fuochi, Bonechi 2003), Les Départs ("Poésie Première", n. 30, 2004), Dudé (Premio "Don Quijote 2005", Instituto Cervantes), Le Maître ("Recours au poème", 2015).
One of her stories, La pietra e il bambino, is staged by Teatro Gioco Vita in Italy and France.
Amongst her novels, Il Taccuino di Simone Weil (ill. P. Valentinis, rueBallu 2014, Menzione Premio Pavullo nel Frignano 2014), Il Decamerino (Mondadori 2015), La porta di Anne (Mondadori 2016), Il viaggio di Lea (EL Einaudi ragazzi 2016), Gli amici del fiume (San Paolo 2017).
She writes and publishes in four languages. She works for publishers, magazines, theatres, radios and newspapers. She leads workshops and classes on creative writing and reading. She holds conferences and lectures in schools, universities, libraries, bookshops, festivals.