3: Halo Calvino a prolific writer, now 58, described by a contemporary as ' lo scoiattolo della penna ', the squirrel with the pen, whose most recent books include Italian Folktales and If on a Winter's Night a Traveller.
Paul Bailey reflects on Calvino's ' inexhaustible supply of ideas, allusions and visions. He creates shadows that are more substantial than the full-blooded characters in most contemporary fiction '.
Reader Benjamin Whitrow Producer LOUISE PURSLOW