BENEVENTO. The Strega’s quinta is, again, a sestina. At the final of the most coveted Italian literary prize, the one invented to play among friends, celebrate democracy and venture into the new world, after the war, there will be: Donatella Di Pietrantonio, who on Tuesday already won the Strega Giovani with “L’età fragili ” (Einaudi), and is the favorite with 248 votes; Dario Voltolini, who follows her in second position with only 5 preferences less, with “Invernale” (The Ship of Theseus); Chiara Valerio with “Who is silent agrees” (Sellerio), 213 votes; Paolo Di Paolo with “Novel without humans” (Feltrinelli), 195 votes; Raffaella Romagnolo with “Fixing the universe” (Mondadori), with 193 votes; Tommaso Giartosio, for the small publisher quota, with “Autobiogrammatica” (Minimum Fax), 126 votes. They were announced today, as per tradition, in the Roman Theater of Benevento.
Book Fair, Donatella Di Pietrantonio: “Being adults means accepting that you cannot understand everything”
Life, and the way of telling it, narration, and its new or rediscovered paths, language, and how (and if) the world changes: here are the central and common points of this list, which is like any year an important, decisive, but certainly not unique, sample of contemporary Italian literature.
Fixing the universe, Romagnolo: “This way the past helps kids look to the future”
It is notable how, compared to last year, autofiction has shrunk and taken other forms, or has simply returned to disguise itself, taking on a multifaceted appearance, as always in the history of books. If last year pure autofiction triumphed with the victory of “Come d’aria” by Ada D’Adamo (Elliott), the diary of a terminal illness (D’Adamo passed away in April 2023, three months before the final), and a five dominated by personal stories, this year the writers come out of themselves much more, and seek, and seek themselves, elsewhere, they invent and invent themselves, they shift their gaze elsewhere, forward in time or inside spaces unsaid.
Book Fair, Dario Voltolini: “Writing about yourself is never a limit”
Antonella Lattanzi, with her “Cose che non si narrato” (Einaudi) is the most voted of the other books in the competition, with 153 votes. It’s a book that has been discussed a lot, and it’s her story: the story of years spent trying to have a baby, without succeeding. «I never thought I would write about myself, and yet as the book came out, I realized that what happened to me was knocking, pouring out, and what happened to me is so incredible that I realized that I had to tell the readers that it had really happened, and it had happened to me.”
Chiara Valerio: “This government confuses censorship with protest”
What Melania Mazzucco, president of the Prize’s steering committee, said when the dozen finalists were announced also applies to the six dozen: “The old voices are disappearing.” It is not a personal observation, or at least not only: the voices are many and new, nascent. The (splendid) language of Voltolini, a highly experienced writer, is also emerging. Giartosio’s language is nascent and he tells the Press: «I have only discovered in recent weeks that mine is a poetic book: made of poetry». His “Autobiogrammar” is an attempt to tell life through language.
When the Strega Prize devours its winners
ferdinando camon
Donatella Di Pietrantonio, the favourite, very excited, tells the Press: «I still suffer from impostor syndrome, I started writing very late, I come from another world, I’m far from all this, I hope for this prize because I have an incredible need to know that it’s not all a misunderstanding.”
Books: here are the dozen candidates for the Strega Prize
89 percent of those entitled to vote voted (700 voters which include both individual votes and collective votes, such as those of schools, universities and reading groups). The final will be held on July 4th as always at the Nymphaeum in Rome.
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