Michela Murgia


Michela Murgia is an Italian novelist and politician. She is a winner of the Premio Campiello and the Mondello International Literary Prize.

Biography

Michela Murgia was born in Cabras, Sardinia on 3 June 1972. At the age of 18, she was taken in by her adoptive family as a filla de anima, a soul-child, a traditional Sardinian adoption. In contrast to the usual age of between 10 and 14 years, Murgia's adoption was delayed because of her natural father's opposition.
Murgia attended the Lorenzo Mossa Oristano institute for technical studies, and then joined the Institute of Religious Studies of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oristano to study theology.
Murgia taught religious studies at middle and grammar schools in Oristano for six years.

Career

Literary

Michela Murgia's first work, Il mondo deve sapere, was published in 2006. This was a satire on the telemarketing call centre, highlighting the economic exploitation and psychological manipulation of its workers. The book was dramatised for the stage by David Emmer and starred Teresa Saponangelo. It was also filmed by Paolo Virzì, and released in 2008 as Tutta la vita davanti.
In 2008, Murgia wrote a travel book on her native Sardinia, Viaggio in Sardegna.
Murgia's 2009 novel, Accabadora, gained several awards including the Mondello International Literary Prize and the Molinello Award for First Fiction.
L'incontro, a novella, appeared in 2012.
In 2013, Murgia co-authored a book titled L'ho uccisa perché l'amavo’. Falso! with Loredana Lipperini, which tackled the issues of violence on women in Italy.
In 2016, Murgia published "Chirú," a novel about a cross generational mentoring relationship.

Political

In the regional elections of February 2014, she stood as a candidate as part of the Possible Sardinia coalition, which aimed to achieve Sardinian independence via the ballot, similar to the Catalan and the Scottish referendums of 2014. Murgia came third in the polls, gaining 10% of the vote.

Awards and honours

Murgia is a member of the Società Italiana delle Letterate.