This year Italian literature will symbolically meet cinema on the occasion of the 64rd edition of the Campiello Prize – promoted by Il Campiello Foundation – Confindustria Veneto – which will be held Saturday October 3 at the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido of Venice. The stage where the Lions of the Biennale Cinema usually take place will be occupied by the five finalists of the literary competition, chosen by the Jury of Men and Women of Letters from among the 62 books admitted to the competition by the Technical Committee. Here are the top five: Marcello Fois with “The immense distraction” (Giulio Einaudi Editore). Ermanno Cavazzoni with "Story of a Friendship" (Quodlibet). Elena Varvello with “Life Always” (Ugo Guanda Editore). Valeria Parrella with “The Little Girl” (Feltrinelli). Alcide Pierantozzi with “Lo sbilico” (Giulio Einaudi Editore). The five finalists were announced after voting in the Galileo Galilei Aula Magna of the Palazzo del Bò at the University of Padua.
“A narrative that interprets the times we live in”
"These five authors represent the best demonstration of what Campiello has always sought, a narrative that interprets the time we live in and transforms it into something lasting – stressed Raffaele Boscaini, President of the Il Campiello Foundation- Confindustria Veneto – This is the function of the Award that the Venetian industrialists wanted in 1962, and which is fulfilled every year with the same concreteness and the same ambition as then”.
“Dirty Water” by Nadeesha Uyangoda, Campiello Prize for a First Work
On the occasion of the selection of the quintet, the Jury – which this year is chaired by the Venetian Robert Cicutto (former president of the Biennale) – announced the winner of the Campiello Opera Prima Award, an award given since 2004 to an author making his literary debut. The Prize was awarded to Nadeesha Uyangoda with "Dirty Water” (Giulio Einaudi Editore). “Dirty water – this is the reason for the recognition – sShe establishes herself as an original yet already recognizable voice in contemporary Italian fiction. Nadeesha Uyangoda's debut novel gives voice, with narrative intensity and stylistic clarity, to the fractures and multiple affiliations of the contemporary world, transforming a family and migration story into a polyphonic narrative of identity, memory, and emotional legacy.".
“Discrepancy between the capacity to absorb works of genius and the quantity produced”
The choice of the final five was an opportunity to take stock of the state of contemporary Italian fictionFor years now, many books have been written, but few have been read. A phenomenon that leads to reflection and that even the president of the Jury of Men and Women of Letters, Robert Cicutto, he stressed. “We were faced with an enormous volume of texts, and this raises a question that goes beyond the prize itself. Indeed, there is today a clear discrepancy between the capacity to absorb works of genius and the quantity produced. It's a question of sustainability, both market and cultural, even before editorial.".
See you next time The final evening will be held on October 3rd. This year, the event will move from the Teatro La Fenice in Venice to the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido. where the traditional "Vera da pozzo" will be awarded to the winner by the Jury of Three Hundred Anonymous Readers. They are selected from across the country based on social and professional categories. Their names change each year, and remain secret until the final evening.
