Gianni Celati, the author of ten books including "The Adventures of Guizzardi" and "Voices from the Plains," is one of the best known and most popular Italian writers today. His work has been recognized with several of the most prestigious Italian literary prizes. Adria Bernardi's collection of short stories," In the Gathering Woods," was awarded the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, and her novel, "The Day Laid on the Altar," won the Katharine Bakeless Nason Prize.