Let’s begin with a little test: which of these authors are NOT Italian writers? Pay attention to appearances that could lead you to make a mistake. Barolini, Janeczek, De Lillo, Lahiri, Lakhous, Scego, Talese, Tusiani.  The answer can be found at the end of the article. So, what does it mean to be an “Italian writer”? 

 Someone who has Italian citizenship? Who is of Italian origin? Someone who lives and writes within the geopolitical boundaries of the Italian Republic? Someone who writes in Italian? And why does it make sense to ask ourselves this question now? Because with the shouts of “Italians first”, they’re trying to make us Italians forget who we are and where we come from. Because for five centuries, from the beginnings of our literature, to our country’s unification, writers have been the only custodians and guardians/guarantors of our national identity that was being ignored, if not mocked, by the great powers of the time. For 500 years, we have all continued to speak our own dialect, but we have all identified with one literary language.