The name Montalbano is an homage to the Spanish writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán the similarities between Montalban's Pepe Carvalho and Camilleri's fictional detective are remarkable. The series is written in Italian but with a substantial sprinkling of Sicilian phrases and grammar. In 1994 Camilleri published the first in a long series of novels: La forma dell'Acqua (The Shape of Water) featured the character of Inspector Montalbano, a fractious Sicilian detective in the police force of Vigàta, an imaginary Sicilian town. A new book, La Stagione della Caccia ('The Hunting Season') turned out to be a best-seller. In 1992, after a long pause of 12 years, Camilleri once more took up novel-writing. Neither of these works enjoyed any significant amount of popularity. This was followed by Un Filo di Fumo ('A Thread of Smoke') in 1980. In 1978 Camilleri wrote his first novel Il Corso Delle Cose ('The Way Things Go'). In 1977 he returned to the Academy of Dramatic Arts, holding the chair of Movie Direction, and occupying it for 20 years. With RAI, Camilleri worked on several TV productions, such as Inspector Maigret with Gino Cervi. His most famous works, the Montalbano series show many pirandellian elements: for example, the wild olive tree that helps Montalbano think, is on stage in his late work 'The giants of the mountain'

As a matter of fact, his parents knew Pirandello and were even distant friends, as he tells in his essay on Pirandello 'Biography of the changed son'. Around this time he joined the Italian Communist Party.įrom 1948 to 1950 Camilleri studied stage and film direction at the Silvio D'Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, and began to take on work as a director and screenwriter, directing especially plays by Pirandello and Beckett. Originally from Porto Empedocle, Sicily, Camilleri began studies at the Faculty of Literature in 1944, without concluding them, meanwhile publishing poems and short stories. He is considered one of the greatest Italian writers of both 20th and 21st centuries. As a matter of fact, his parents knew Pirandello and were even distant friends, as he tells in his essay on Pirandello 'Biography o Andrea Camilleri (born septemin Porto Empedocle) was an Italian writer. From 1948 to 1950 Camilleri studied stage and film direction at the Silvio D'Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, and began to take on work as a director and screenwriter, directing especially plays by Pirandello and Beckett. Around this time he joined the Italian Communist Party.

Andrea Camilleri (born septemin Porto Empedocle) was an Italian writer.

The shape of water camilleri