Fiammetta Rocco

Fiammetta Rocco was until 2025 director of the International Booker Prize. For 25 years she was a senior editor at "The Economist", covering books and culture. Her writing and criticism have won awards on both sides of the Atlantic. Of Franco-Italian origin, she grew up in Kenya and read Arabic at Oxford University. She was a trustee of the Edinburgh International Book Festival (2009-23) and the Caine Prize for African Writing (2014-22). Her book, "The Miraculous Fever Tree", about malaria and the discovery of quinine, was published in Britain and in America. In 2026 she will chair the Orwell prize for political fiction. She and her family live between London and Scotland. She is an honorary Fellow of the Royal Literary Society.