Marco Balzano was born in 1978 in Milan, where he lives and works as a high school teacher. In addition to essays and poetry collections, he has written four award-winning novels, including Il figlio del figlio (Premio Corrado Alvaro), Pronti a tutti le partenze (Premio Flaiano), L’ultimo arrivato (Premio Campiello and Premio Volponi, among others). His bestseller Resto qui (Premio Bagutta, Premio Asti d’ Appello, Prix Méditerranée award, and runner-up for the Premio Strega) was published in 2018. His essay Le parole sono importanti (Premio Città delle Rose) was published in 2019. His books have been translated into several languages.