Wasps in the head

Daniele Nicastro was born in 1978. He currently lives in the province of Cuneo, where he writes all sorts of things: novels, postcards, messages in bottles, and phrases on walls. He started telling stories as a teenager—to his mother—every time he came home late without letting her know. Over time, he turned it into a profession. He made his debut with the novel Grande, which won the Legenda Junior Prize. With Fino all’ultima #challenge (Lapis Edizioni), he was a finalist for the 2024 Bancarellino Prize. As a children's and young adult author, he has published over 50 books, which have been translated into several languages. Coming-of-age novels and comics are his greatest passion.

I was born in 2001 in Enna, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by stories. I was always asking for new ones, and soon I started drawing the characters from my favorite tales the way I imagined them. That’s when I realized I wanted to keep doing this as a job when I grew up. So I enrolled in the local Art High School, and after graduating, I studied illustration at Mimaster in Milan and visual development at Idea Academy in Rome. I began my career as a character designer for video games and board games, but for the past three years, I’ve mainly been working as a freelance illustrator for publishing and animation. In 2024, the Italian association Autori di Immagini awarded me the Toppi Prize for my piece The Emperor. The same illustration was also featured in the exhibition From Illustration to Comics: Pencils in Talented Young Hands, curated by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and unveiled at last year’s Frankfurt Book Fair.