Giacomo Sartori

Sartori was born in Trento, Italy, in 1958. The Alpine region near the Austrian border he grew up in inspired many of his early works.[1] His father was a supporter of Italian fascism and Benito Mussolini, which shaped the younger Sartori's worldview indelibly; his conscious attempts to distance himself from his father inspired much of his psyche and writing.[2] He graduated from the University of Florence in 1983 with a degree in agricultural science.[3]

Sartori began writing in the 1990s and published his first novel, Tritolo, in 1999.[4] His other early works include Sacrificio (2008), Cielo nero (2008), and Rogo (2015).[1]

In 2005, Sartori published the autofictional The Anatomy of the Battle, based on his relationship with his father and their political conflicts. He described the process of writing it as a "true and proper revelation", coming to terms with aspects of his psyche and lifestyle that he had previously denied.[2] The work was praised in the Italian literary media for its depth and focus.[5] It was partially translated by Frederika Randall before her death,[6] and he hoped to publish it in the United States.[2]

In 2011, he published the short story collection Autismi, a collection of absurdist shorts influenced by psychoanalytic theory.[7] It was awarded the Frontier Grenzen, the pre-eminent literary prize of the Alps.[8]

In 2016, Sartori published Sono Dio, a novel from the perspective of the omnipotent and omniscent God. It was translated to English by Randall and published as I Am God in 2019.[9]

Sono Dio received positive reviews, including from major publications such as L'Indice dei libri del mese, but overall was little-noticed.[10][11] However, in translation, I Am God received substantial attention from publications such as the New York Times and The New Republic.[12][13] It was named one of the top books of the year by the Financial Times and received multiple awards, such as the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award[11] and the Italian Prose in Translation Award.[14] Italian commentators discussed the gap in acclaim between Italy and the Anglosphere, ascribing it to Sartori's irreverence being better-received in English and to Randall's dogged perseverance, as well as the connections formed between them by his writing for Nazione Indiana.[11]

Sartori published Baco, a speculative fiction novel about family and artificial intelligence, in 2019.[15] Baco was well-received[16] and was a finalist for the 2020 Premio Procida Award.[17] Sartori described the work as emblematic of the contrast between "a cynical and inhuman capitalism and those who remain anchored to the values of brotherhood".[18]

Sartori lives between Paris and Trento. He has described his unusual day job as a soil scientist as an influence on his writing style.[2] He has also taught agricultural science at the University of Trento.[4]