Rossella Merlino is Research Fellow in Contemporary Italian History at the University of Messina. Her research interests are in the history and culture of Italian mafias, transnational discourse on the Italian South, Italian communities, gender and crime in 19th century New York. In 2018 she was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie IF at the University of Messina and, prior to that, she was lecturer at a number of universities in the UK (Bath, Exeter, Bangor). She is Associate Editor of Modern Italy (CUP).

Rossella is author of La mafia prima della mafia: il caso di Messina (Carocci, 2023) and co-editor of the forthcoming Mafie tra continuità e mutamento: analisi, esperienze, narrazioni (Carocci, 2024).