Viola di Grado Interviewed by Suzi Feay

Award-winning Italian novelist Viola di Grado talks about her new novel of obsessive and all-consuming love, Blue Hunger.

The story finds two women in a Shanghai skyscraper who swallow little yellow pills that will make all things dangerous feel safe. Xu and Ruben are both running from a turbulent past. Xu pushes Ruben to extremes of pleasure and pain. The novel asks how we create our identities and how we escape them.

‘Blue Hunger, a prose poem and a fearless descent into language and the realm of meanings, is about our experience in the acidic lights of the contemporary world.’ Filippo la Porta, La Repubblica

Di Grado was the youngest winner of Italy’s Premio Campiello Opera Prima with her first novel, 70% Acrylic 30% Wool. She is also author of Hollow Heart and Fuoco al Cielo, winner of the Premio Viareggio Selezione della Giuria.

This event is part of Italian day at the festival.