Stefano Benni, author of 'Bar Sport', dies at 78 in Bologna

Stefano Benni, the celebrated Italian writer, poet, journalist, and satirist, died at 78 in the Lyda Borelli retirement home for artists in Bologna's Meloncello district. His publisher Feltrinelli confirmed the death after a long illness that had forced him from public life. Benni is best known for novels such as 'Bar Sport' (which inspired Salvo's 1981 artwork 'Al Bar Sport'), 'Saltatempo', 'Elianto', 'Margherita Dolcevita', 'Terra!', and 'La Compagna dei Celestini'. Beyond fiction, he worked as a screenwriter, playwright, and television author, writing material for a young Beppe Grillo, collaborating with Dario Fo and Franca Rame, and writing about jazz with Umberto Petrin. He contributed to satirical and political magazines including Cuore, Tango, Il manifesto, L'Espresso, Panorama, and Linus. In 2015, he famously refused the Vittorio De Sica prize in protest against cuts to education and culture. His works have been translated into over thirty languages, and he had a close friendship with French writer Daniel Pennac, whom he championed in Italy by persuading Feltrinelli to translate his early books; Pennac dedicated 'Grazie!' to him. In his final years, Benni published original short stories translated into Arabic in the magazine Al Doha.