Nicola Pugliese ( Milan, 8 August 1944 - Avella, 25 April 2012 ) was an Italian author and journalist. He published his debut novel, Malacqua, in 1977. Despite selling out in days, he requested not be reprinted and retired to a private life in Avella. It wasn’t printed again until after his death in 2012. An English translation of Malacqua (trans. Shaun Whiteside) was published by And Other Stories in 2017.