Elena Ferrante became a global literary sensation with her four Neapolitan novels, a bestselling series that sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. The first two volumes, My Brilliant Friend and The Story of a New Name, have also been adapted for television. Elena Ferrante is this year’s recipient of the Belle van Zuylen Ring, an international honour presented by the ILFU in collaboration with the City of Utrecht in recognition of the work’s explicit social engagement. Since her debut novel in 1992, Ferrante has created countless characters who illustrate women's position in 20th-century Italian society. Her prose is crystal clear and to the point, with a modernist intimacy that evokes authors like Virginia Woolf and Elsa Morante. Her radical choice to remain anonymous, while explicitly identifying as a woman, is a powerful statement with an intrinsically feminist undertone. In her novels, Ferrante shows why fiction matters, without allowing it to become overshadowed by her own background, history, personal convictions or public actions. In the process, she gives a voice to women from every stratum of society. Her fiction also has an extensive reach: without Ferrante's novels, we would never become so closely acquainted with these Neapolitan women, and people from every corner of the world would never have been able to empathise with their fate.

Ferrante’s novels are published by De Wereldbibliotheek in the Netherlands, by Edizioni E/O in Italy and by Europa Editions Ltd in the US and the United Kingdom.