Gioacchino Criaco (born 3 March 1965, Africo) is an Italian writer.
Gioacchino Criaco was born in Africo, Calabria, to a family of shepherds. He went to a high school in Locri and studied law in Bologna. He worked as a lawyer in Milan until 2008, when his literary career took off.
His brother, is a member of the 'Ndrangheta and he lost his father in a vendetta in 1993.
The movie director Francesco Munzi adapted his debut novel ' in 2014: Black Souls.