I was born in 1986 in the southern Italian region of Puglia. When I was one, my parents and I moved north to Milano, where my father took a teaching position and my mother became a PR consultant for theater companies.

I studied literature and creative writing, and eventually earned my master’s degree in comparative literature from the University of Milano. I took specialization courses in teaching Italian as a foreign language at the Dante Alighieri Institute in Milano and earned my DITALS (Teaching Italian as a Foreign Language) certificate from Università per gli Stranieri di Siena in 2017.

Before moving to California, I taught Italian to newly arrived refugees and immigrants to Italy at the Associazione Arcobaleno in Milano.

In 2018, I married my American wife, Claire, and moved to Oakland, CA, where we still live with our cat, Dawn. Along with giving private lessons, I now teach classes at three Italian language schools and a local community college.

In my spare time, I ride my bike, listen to records, go to the cinema, and play bocce at the Fratellanza club.