Renowned literary critic, essayist, biographer, and recipient of many literary prizes for fiction, Ferruccio Ulivi published his first book of fiction, E le ceneri al vento (Ashes in the Wind) in 1977 at the age of sixty-five. Despite his late start he has become a prolific novelist, widely read and highly regarded. His narrative is known for its character development and stimulating intellectual content. The structure of much of Ulivi's fiction emerges from what critic Franco Lanza calls "la fenomenologia della solitudine" (the phenomenology of solitude); he explores such issues as conscience and consciousness, freedom and destiny, and the presence and absence of God in human existence.

Born on 10 September in Borgo San Lorenzo near Florence, Ulivi graduated from the University of Florence in 1934. He has been living in Rome since 1941. Ulivi's activity as a writer dates back to the 1930s, when he was actively involved in Florentine cultural...