Simona Lo Iacono was born in Siracusa in 1970. She works as a magistrate at the Court of Catania. She writes for newspapers and magazines, and runs several workshops and courses in prisons as a volunteer. Her novels include Tu non dici parole (Giulio Perrone Editore, 2008), which won the Premio Vittorini Opera Prima; Le streghe di Lenzavacche (E/O, 2016), which was longlisted for the Premio Strega 2016; and Il morso (Neri Pozza, 2017), which won the Premio Leonardo Sciascia. L’albatro has been translated into several languages. Her last novel is Virdimura (Guanda, 2024).