Maria Venturi

Maria Venturi was born in Florence, Italy and grew up in Brescia. After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Milan, where she studied literature under the renowned literary historian and critic Mario Fubini. He encouraged her to write. She won her first literature prize at age 17 with a collection of poetry, and published her first stories in the weekly Milan-based newspaper Novella. At age 25, she began writing a novel, and sent the manuscript to Italo Calvino at Einaudi, asking if it was worth finishing.
The answer was yes, but the novel remained unfinished because in the meantime Maria Venturi was hired by Novella for a journalism job she held for the next 20 years. Novella later became a magazine. After serving as a correspondent, managing editor, and then deputy director, Venturi took over the management in 1979. In 1981, she became director of the weekly Annabella, which a few months later changed its name to Anna di lei.

In 1986, Venturi left the magazine but continued to write articles and interviews while beginning a column of television criticism in the weekly Oggi.
She also began her career as a novelist, and three of her books were quickly adapted into successful TV miniseries: La storia spezzata (1992), La moglie nella cornice (1992), and Il cielo non cade mai (1993). Several more bestsellers became the basis for long-running shows on Italian TV. In 2015, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Special Prize for her book Niente è per chance from the Premio Letterario Internazionale "Il Molinello" ("Il Molinello" International Literary Prize).