"It all started with fear. Fear of cars. Fear of trains. Fear of bright lights. Crowded places, or places that were too empty, too stuffy, or too open. Fear of the movie theater, the supermarket, the post office, the bank. Fear of strangers, looks from people; fear of everybody, fear of physical contact, fear of telephone calls. Fear of strings, laces, belts, ladders, wells, knives. Fear of being with people and being all alone."

Simona Vinci (Milan, 1970) lives in Bologna, where she obtained a degree in modern Italian literature. Her first novel, A Game We Play (Einaudi), was acclaimed by readers and critics alike and has been translated in fifteen countries. Einaudi also published her short story collection In Every Sense Like Love: Stories in 1999 along with her novels Come prima delle madri (2003), Brother and Sister (2004), and Stanza 411 (2006), Strada Provinciale Tre (2007). For young readers Vinci published Corri, Matilda (E. Elle, 1998) and Matildacity (Adnkronos Libri, 1998). In 2016 she won the Campiello Prize for her novel La prima verità, which also had a stage adaptation. She contributes to Italy’s national newspapers and collaborates widely on radio programs (including "Atlantis", Rai Radio2) and TV programs ("Cenerentola", Raitre; "Milonga Station", Raitre). Vinci is a literary translator from English to Italian.