Giorgio Vasta was born in 1970 in Palermo, Italy.
Vasta is an author, novelist, and scriptwriter. He is a contributor for La Repubblica, Il Sole 24 ORE, Il Manifesto, minima&moralia, and is a professor at several colleges including Holden School and IED in Turin. His first novel, Il tempo materiale, was published by Minimum Fax in 2008, and it has been distributed in eleven different countries. It was awarded several accolades such as Dessì Prize and the Prix Ulysse du Premier Roman (2011), and was among the candidates for the Premio Strega 2009.
In 2014, Vasta was Italian Affiliated Fellow in American Literature at the American Academy in Rome. Together with Emma Dante and in collaboration with Licia Eminenti, Vasta co-authored the screenplay Via Castellana Bandiera’s (2013), in competition at the 70th Venice Film Festival. His last book is Absolutely nothing. Storie e sparizioni nei deserti americani (2016) with Ramak Fazel.
At Manifesta 12 Palermo, Giorgio Vasta presents City Scripts, a project about storytelling, creative writing workshops about Palermo, its neighbourhoods and peculiarities. Realised in collaboration with the students of Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia of Palermo, City Scripts tells five stories which will be available as free downloadable podcasts. Five stories: two made by a collective, and three single-authored. The authors are Fulvio Abbate, Emma Dante, Giorgio Vasta, whilst the two collectives are formed by the students of the writing course taught by Vasta and Letizia Gullo, and VacuaMoenia.