We highlighted last autumn the winner of the prestigious Strega prize, one of the most important literary prizes awarded in Italy. It was won for the first time in 15 years by a woman – Helena Janeczek for her novel La ragazza con la Laica (C213.c.6240).

The other four major literary prizes that we focus on were awarded in the last 12 months as follows:

The Bagutta prize: awarded in 2019 to Marco Balzano for his novel Resto qui (C213.c.8933)

The Bancarella prize: awarded in 2018 to Dolores Redondo for her novel Tutto questo ti darò (translated by Ascanio Temonte). Todo esto te daré (the original Spanish publication) is held by us and stands at C212.c.3206.

The Campiello prize: awarded in 2018 to Rosella Postorino for Le assagiatrici (C214.c.5223)

The Viareggio-Repaci prize:

“Narrativa”: awarded in 2018 to Fabio Genovesi for Il mare dove non si tocca (C213.c.4641) and to Giuseppe Lupo for Gli anni del nostro incanto (C214.c.5235)

“Poesia”: awarded in 2018 to Roberta Dapunt for her volume of poems Sincope (C205.d.9953)

“Saggistica”: awarded in 2018 to Guido Melis for his work La macchina imperfetta : immagine e realtà dello Stato fascista (C213.c.7673)

So our collection of contemporary Italian literature continues to expand, with titles acquired by us either through recommendation, or careful selection, or sent as part of our approval plan with our Italian suppliers. The result is a rich and varied collection of items that will hopefully be much borrowed, read and enjoyed.

Bettina Rex