Mario Biondi (writer)

Mario Biondi(born 17 May 1939) is an Italian writer, poet, literary critic, journalist and translator. His reputation is mainly due to the novelGli occhi di una donna, which earned him the important Italian awardPremio Campielloin 1985.He has a keen interest inCentral AsiaandTibetanhistory and culture, and in recent years has travelled all of theSilk RoadthroughTurkey,Iran,Uzbekistan,Kyrgyzstan,Pakistanand many provinces ofChina, among whichGansu,Shaanxi,Sichuan,Qinghaiand obviouslyTibet.
Born inMilanand grown up nearLake Como, he graduated fromBocconi Universityand then worked for sixteen years in publishing (Einaudi, Sansoni, Longanesi), as Chief Press Officer before becoming a freelance author. He has been constantly active in Anglo-American narrative, of which he is also a translator and reviewer for several dailies, weeklies and monthlies. He was a professional novelist for more than twenty years, and a publicist for more than thirty.
In 1973 he published a small collection of poems,Per rompere qualcosa, followed by other poems published on various literary publications or anthologies (Il Verri, Altri termini, Pianura etc.).
He has also published fourteen novels and, more recently, three books of travel memories (see detailed lists below).
Trivia: In the very first youth he also wore the Italian blue jersey of the junior and university teams of athletics, being included in the first prospective team for theOlympic GamesinRome, 1960, where unfortunately he could not participate due to injury. In 1994 he was awarded the Literary Prize of CONI, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano.
Biondi has begun his travels in 1968, and in 2003 he has collected his memories in his first book of travelsGüle Gule. Parti con un sorriso. 35 years of voyages fromNew York CitytoIran, throughAlgeria,Albania,Syria,Jordan,Turkey,Egypt. In 2004 he realized that he had unknowingly travelled most of theSilk Road, so he completed the route crossingTurkmenistan,UzbekistanandKyrgyzstan, reachingChinaatKashgarthrough theTien Shan(Mountains of Heaven) and from there crossing theTaklamakan DeserttoTurpan(Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, Bezeklik). And in 2005 he collected his new memories in his second book of travels,Strada bianca per i Monti del Cielo.
Between 2005 and 2007, Biondi has also completed "philologically" theSilk Roadto its eastern end, represented by the ancient Chinese capitalsXi'anandLuoyang, proceeding from there toBeijing,ShanghaiandLhasa(with the famousQingzang RailwayfromXining,Qinghai). But above all visiting, in addition toTibet, large areas of other Tibetan Autonomous Regions inGansu(the monasteries of theGelugpas(Yellow Hats) in Labrang and Langmu-Si, the famous Buddha caves of Bingling-Si on theYellow River), inQinghai(Gelugpa complex of Kumbum, the birthplace ofTsongkhapa, monasteries ofRebkong/Tongrenetc.) and in Sichuan (Great Buddha ofLeshanandMount Emei).
From these complex experiences was born in 2008 his third book of travels,Con il Buddha di Alessando Magno, long and passionate journey along the paths of the Art ofGandhara, that's to say the syncretism of the preaching of Buddha and the Hellenistic culture brought by Alexander to the Indus. A syncretism that has extended its influence to the Far East.
In 2008, still in China, he has visitedNingxia, the autonomous province of the Muslim Hui, but especially, again,Qinghai, divided in the two large territories ofAmdoand part ofKham(Yushu-Jyekundo), respectively inhabited by Tibetans Amdowas and Khampas.
In 2009 he has continued the exploration of said territories, reaching in 2010Mount Kailash,Lake Manasarovarand the remains of the ancientKingdom of Guge, in Western Tibet. From there Biondi's travels continued to some Holy Festivals ofBhutan(Tsechuand Drupchhoe) andNepal(Indra Jatra).
He has translated 71 works mostly by American and English authors, includingBernard Malamud,John Updike,Edith Wharton,Anne Tyler,Peter Careyand NobelsIsaac Bashevis Singer,William Golding,Wole SoyinkaandOrhan Pamuk(from the American edition ofKara Kitab - The Black Bookas expressly requested by Pamuk to his first Italian publisher, Frassinelli).
Mario Biondi has always had a keen interest in technology and its future expectations, as evidenced by the novelsUna porta di luce(1998) andCodice Ombra(1999). Logical consequence, his interest in the Internet. Connected to a network from mid-1994, in April 1995 he created his Web site, first Italian writer to do so and perhaps also in Europe (they were still very few even in the USA). A site of service, which apart from providing information about the writer and his work - including the possibility of downloading narratives and critics -, offers some databases for the analysis of text in a variety of classics:Aeneid(in Latin),Bible,The Divine Comedy,Jerusalem Delivered,Orlando Furioso,The Betrothed(all in Italian). Using his knowledge of the world of Opera, Biondi has also created and posted on his site a powerful (and very used) Database of Opera.
A semi-professional hobby, strictly connected to the passion for travel that has always animated Biondi, who has posted on the Net many more than 5000 photos taken since 1968 inItaly-Algeria-Turkey-United States-Cuba-Syria-Yugoslavia-Albania-Iran-Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-Pakistan-China-Nepal-Bhutan, freely visible in the proper spaces on his Web Site.
Biondi has always cultivated a deep interest in Opera, and over the years has accumulated thousands of recordings, creating a simple but very informed Database of Opera with data about more than 1700 titles of operas by some 600 composers in more than 5000 recordings. (Who has directed, who played, who has sung (and with whom), when, where, how ... The Database of Opera, searchable via a simple form, is freely accessible through the specific page of his Web Site.