Paolo Cognetti

Paolo Cognetti (1978) is an Italian writer and documentary maker. He grew up in Milan and spent the summers of his childhood in a small mountain village in the north of Italy. His latest novel has won the Premio Strega, the most prestigious Italian literary award. The eight mountains tells the story of Pietro, a boy from Milan, who spends his summers in the mountain village of Grana in the Valle d’Aosta with his father and mother. During one of these summers Pietro finds a friend for life in Bruno, a boy who has spent all his life in the small village. Cognetti writes about many different themes in his book and succeeds in telling an impressive coming of age story about friendship, the love for a mountain and the relationship between father and son.