Claudio Chillemi (born 11 May 1964) is an Italian writer, active mainly in science fiction and fantasy. In speculative fiction he has received awards in several editions of the Premio Italia (the main award of Italy's science-fiction and fantasy fandom) and the Premio Vegetti. His short fiction has appeared in United States and French magazines, including The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, NewMyths, Black Cat Weekly and Galaxies.

Biography

Early work and theatre Chillemi was born in Catania in 1964 and is a teacher. In 1988 he published the poetry collection La voce della memoria. In 1992 he published the short-story collection C'è qualcuno là fuori? and collaborated with the amateur magazine Zap. In 1994 he worked as a comics writer on Antehac 20.87 and Il tocco dell'innocenza.

In the mid-1990s Chillemi began writing theatre texts for young readers and received recognition in the Teatro e Natura and Arte per la Pace competitions. In 2000 he received the Premio Giovannino Guareschi for the short story L'ultima visita. After the award, the story was published in the Gazzetta di Parma. In 2003 he published the handbook Fare teatro a scuola.

Fantasy and science fiction In 2004 Chillemi published the novel Federico piccolo grande re, devoted to the youth of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. In 2010 the novel appeared in a new edition under the title Federico: la favolosa infanzia di un sovrano leggendario. The series continued with L'aquila nera, L'isola di cristallo and La corona spezzata, historical-fantasy novels about the young Frederick II in a Sicily with magical and mythological elements.

In 2009 Chillemi published the science-fiction novel Kronos, later republished by Delos Digital in 2026. The novel has been described as a crime story with science-fiction elements, connected with the multinational corporation Kronos and with themes such as alternate history, parallel universes and time travel. The cycle continued with Il lato oscuro della Kronos and Quel che resta della Kronos. Quel che resta della Kronos won the Premio Italia and the Premio Vegetti in the science-fiction novel category.

Between 2016 and 2021 he published the three short novels of the L'Immortalità cycle: Soluzione Omega, L'universo muto and I tre stati dell'acqua. The cycle treats the theme of immortality in a science-fiction mode. In 2022 his story Il Bloop was published in Mondadori's Urania Millemondi line. In 2024 he published Katàne, a science-fiction crime novel set in a future Catania devastated by a geological catastrophe.

International collaborations In 2014 Chillemi published, with Paul Di Filippo, the story The Via Panisperna Boys in "Operation Harmony" in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. The story is an alternate history about Ettore Majorana. The story Con gli occhi del nemico was published in French in Galaxies under the title Par les yeux de l'ennemi. In 2023 the story The Keen and Cutting Stones, written with Di Filippo, appeared in NewMyths. In 2024 Black Cat Weekly published Maximinus Thrax and the Gates of Chaos, also written with Di Filippo. The stories written with Di Filippo were collected in Dieselpunk, published by Delos Digital in 2023; the collection combines science fiction, weird fiction, alternate history, dieselpunk and Sicilian settings.

Fondazione SF Magazine and Aetnacon In 2012 Chillemi founded the association Fondazione Science Fiction in Catania with Antonino Di Mari, Enrico Di Stefano and Rosaria Leonardi. The association has produced the fanzine Fondazione Science Fiction Magazine and organizes Aetnacon, described as the first Sicilian convention devoted to science fiction and fantasy. Aetnacon reached its fifteenth edition in 2024.

Reception In 2010 Pino Cottogni presented Kronos on Fantascienza.com as a novel that combines a police investigation with a science-fiction setting. In 2023 Carmine Treanni, writing in Wired Italia, described Dieselpunk as a collection born from the collaboration between Chillemi and Paul Di Filippo and highlighted its relationship with the dieselpunk imagination and with its Sicilian setting. In 2024 Carmelo Di Mauro presented Katàne in La Sicilia as an interweaving of investigative thriller, archaeology and a post-apocalyptic future.

Awards and recognition

Premio Giovannino Guareschi 2000 – Best short story on the "small world" theme for L'ultima visita.

Premio Italia 2009 – Best story in an amateur publication for Guardia medica. 2010 – Best article in an amateur publication for Star Trek e lo scisma. 2011 – Best story in an amateur publication for Il lato oscuro della Kronos. 2015 – Best story in a professional publication for Né la prima né l'ultima volta. 2016 – Best science-fiction novel for Quel che resta della Kronos. 2016 – Best story in a professional publication for Con gli occhi del nemico. 2017 – Best story in a professional publication for Soluzione Omega. 2019 – Best story in an amateur publication for Il Grande Errore. 2022 – Best fantasy novel for L'aquila nera. 2023 – Best fantasy novel for L'isola di cristallo. 2023 – Best story in a professional publication for Il Bloop. 2024 – Best story in a professional publication for CiFlac. 2024 – Best article in an amateur publication for Il Fantastico Totò. 2025 – Best science-fiction novel for Katàne. 2025 – Best article in an amateur publication for The Fab Four - Il Fantastico Mondo dei Beatles.

Premio Vegetti 2016 – Best science-fiction novel for Quel che resta della Kronos.

Works

Novels and short novels Reissued as: Reissued as: Reissued as: Reissued as:

Collections and short fiction

Essays

Poetry

Comics

References

External links