Anna Maria Ortese (June 14, 1914 in Rome – March 10, 1998 in Rapallo, Genoa, Italy) was an Italian short story writer and a poet. She was best known for her 1953 short story "Il Mare Non Bagna Napoli," which depicted the abject conditions of Naples following World War II. She once said, “We write because we look for companionship, then we publish because we get paid a little bit of money."

The two books widely regarded as her most important works are the novels L'Iguana (The Iguana, 1965, also reportely Ortese's own favorite work) and Poveri e semplici (1967), the latter winner of the coveted Premio Strega in the year of its publication and eventually followed by a sequel, Il capello piumato, in 1979. The Iguana, like most of her works written in the style of the magical realist tradition, was republished in 1986, then winning the Premio Fiuggi, and translated into French in 1988, where it garnered critical acclaim as well. – In Sonno e in Veglia (1987) was awarded the Premio Procida-Elsa Morante in 1988.