Italian Literature is written in Italian Language. Italian literature is considered to start in the 12th Century, when the Italian vernacular started to be used in different regions of Italy in a literary way. The first text  from this beginning is The ritmo laurenziano. But from these beginnings probably the most known Italian poets is Dante Alighieri.

But he is not the only Italian writer known all over the World, in the 15th Century, we should mention Niccolò Machiavelli, and Francesco Guicciardini, from the 17th Century, we should mention Giordano Bruno, and after the French Revolution, we should mention many authors, as Vittorio Alfieri, Vincenzo Monti, Ugo Foscolo, Alessandro Mansoni, and many others.

From the more modern times, after the Risorgimento, we should mention Luigi Pirandello, Alberto Moravia, and of course, Umberto Ecco, becaming internationally known with his novel "The Name of the Rose". 

Other important Italian writers, and Nobel Prize Winners are Giosuè Carducci, Grazia Deledda, Luigi Pirandello, Salvatore Quasimodo, Eugenio Montale and Dario Fo.