The Strega Prize ( it, Premio Strega ) is the most prestigious Italian

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Ma ...

. It has been awarded annually since 1947 for the best work of prose fiction written in the Italian language by an author of any nationality and first published between 1 May of the previous year and 30 April.

History

In 1944

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

and Goffredo Bellonci started to host a literary

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

at their home in Rome. These Sunday gatherings of writers, artists and intellectuals grew to include many of the most notable figures of Italian cultural life. The group became known as the ''Amici della Domenica'', or ‘Sunday Friends’. In 1947 the Belloncis, together with Guido Alberti, owner of the firm which produces the Strega liqueur, decided to inaugurate a prize for fiction, the winner being chosen by the Sunday friends. The activities of the Bellonci circle and the institution of the prize were seen as marking a tentative return to ‘normality’ in Italian cultural life: a feature of the reconstruction which followed the years of Fascism, war, occupation and liberation. The first winner of the Strega, elected by the Sunday Friends, was

Ennio Flaiano Ennio Flaiano (5 March 1910 – 20 November 1972) was an Italian screenwriter, playwright, novelist, journalist, and drama critic. Best known for his work with Federico Fellini, Flaiano co-wrote ten screenplays with the Italian director, including ...

, for his first and only novel ''Tempo di uccidere'', which is set in Africa during the

Second Italo-Abyssinian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...

. It has been translated into English as ''The Short Cut''. Maria Bellonci published a history of the Strega prize, titled ''Come un racconto gli anni del premio Strega'', in 1971.

Selection process

Since the death of Maria Bellonci in 1986, the prize has been administered by the ''Fondazione Maria e Goffredo Bellonci''. The members of the now 400-strong prize jury, drawn from Italy’s cultural elite, are still known as the Sunday Friends. For a book to be considered it must have the support of at least two Friends. This initial long list is whittled down at a first ballot to a short list of five. The second round of voting, followed by the proclamation of the victor, takes place on the first Thursday in July in the

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

of the

Villa Giulia The Villa Giulia is a villa in Rome, Italy. It was built by Pope Julius III in 1551–1553 on what was then the edge of the city. Today it is publicly owned, and houses the Museo Nazionale Etrusco, a collection of Etruscan art and artifacts. Hi ...

, Rome.

Sponsorship

Telecom Italia Gruppo TIM, legally TIM S.p.A. (formerly Telecom Italia S.p.A.), also known as the TIM Group in English, is an Italian telecommunications company with headquarters in Rome, Milan, and Naples, (with the Telecom Italia Tower) which provides fixe ...

have joined Liquore Strega as sponsors of the prize.

Premio Strega speciale, 2006

In 2006, the seventieth year of the Strega Prize, a special award was made to the

Constitution of Italy The Constitution of the Italian Republic ( it, Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana) was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended sixteen times, ...

, a document which was drawn up and approved during 1946, the year of the Strega’s birth. The award was received by former

President of the Italian Republic President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was the president of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1992, and was close to the centre ...

Winners

*1947 –

, ''Tempo di uccidere'' *1948 –

Vincenzo Cardarelli Vincenzo Cardarelli, pseudonym of Nazareno Caldarelli (1 May 1887 – 18 June 1959) was an Italian poet and journalist. Cardarelli was born in Corneto, Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , populati ...

, ''Villa Tarantola'' *1949 – Giambattista Angioletti, ''La memoria'' *1950 –

Cesare Pavese Cesare Pavese ( , ; 9 September 1908 – 27 August 1950) was an Italian novelist, poet, short story writer, translator, literary critic, and essayist. He is often referred to as one of the most influential Italian writers of his time. Early li ...

, ''La bella estate'' *1951 –

Corrado Alvaro Corrado Alvaro (15 April 1895 – 11 June 1956) was an Italian journalist and writer of novels, short stories, screenplays and plays. He often used the '' verismo'' style to describe the hopeless poverty in his native Calabria. His first succe ...

, ''Quasi una vita'' *1952 –

Alberto Moravia Alberto Moravia ( , ; born Alberto Pincherle ; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990) was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia is best known for his d ...

, ''I racconti'' *1953 –

Massimo Bontempelli Massimo Bontempelli (12 May 1878 – 21 July 1960) was an Italian poet, playwright, novelist and composer. He was influential in developing and promoting the literary style known as magical realism. Life Massimo Bontempelli was born in Como ...

, ''L'amante fedele'' *1954 –

Mario Soldati Mario Soldati (17 November 1906 – 19 June 1999) was an cinema of Italy, Italian writer and film director. In 1954 he won the Strega Prize for ''Lettere da Capri.'' He directed several works adapted from novels, and worked with leading Ital ...

, ''Lettere da Capri'' *1955 – Giovanni Comisso, ''Un gatto attraversa la strada'' *1956 –

Giorgio Bassani Giorgio Bassani (4 March 1916 – 13 April 2000) was an Italian novelist, poet, essayist, editor, and international intellectual. Biography Bassani was born in Bologna into a prosperous Jewish family of Ferrara, where he spent his childhood wit ...

, ''Cinque storie ferraresi'' *1957 –

Elsa Morante Elsa Morante (; 18 August 191225 November 1985) was an Italian novelist, poet, translator and children's books author. Her novel '' La storia'' (''History'') is included in the Bokklubben World Library List of 100 Best Books of All Time. Life a ...

, '' L'isola di Arturo'' *1958 –

Dino Buzzati Dino Buzzati-Traverso (; 14 October 1906 – 28 January 1972) was an Italian novelist, short story writer, painter and poet, as well as a journalist for '' Corriere della Sera''. His worldwide fame is mostly due to his novel ''The Tartar St ...

, '' Sessanta racconti'' *1959 –

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, 11th Prince of Lampedusa, 12th Duke of Palma, GE (; 23 December 1896 – 23 July 1957) was an Italian writer and the last Prince of Lampedusa. He is most famous for his only novel, '' Il Gattopardo'' (first publish ...

, ''

Il gattopardo ''The Leopard'' ( it, Il Gattopardo ) is a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the ''Risorgimento''. Published posthumously in 1958 by Feltrinelli, after two rejections by the ...

'' *1960 –

Carlo Cassola Carlo Cassola (17 March 1917 – 29 January 1987) was an influential Italian novelist and essayist. His novel ''La Ragazza di Bube'' (1960), which received the Strega Prize, was adapted into a film of the same name by Luigi Comencini in 1963. ...

, ''

La ragazza di Bube LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

'' *1961 –

Raffaele La Capria Raffaele La Capria (3 October 1922 – 26 June 2022) was an Italian novelist and screenwriter. His second novel, '' The Mortal Wound'' (''Ferito a morte''), won Italy's most prestigious award, the Strega Prize, and is today considered a classi ...

, ''Ferito a morte'' *1962 –

Mario Tobino Mario Tobino (16 January 1910, Viareggio, Province of Lucca, Tuscany – 11 December 1991, Agrigento) was an Italian poet, writer and psychiatrist. A prolific writer, he began as a poet but later wrote mostly novels. His works are characteriz ...

, ''Il clandestino'' *1963 –

Natalia Ginzburg Natalia Ginzburg (, ; ; 14 July 1916 – 7 October 1991) was an Italian author whose work explored family relationships, politics during and after the Fascist years and World War II, and philosophy. She wrote novels, short stories and essays, fo ...

, '' Lessico famigliare'' *1964 – Giovanni Arpino, ''L'ombra delle colline'' *1965 –

Paolo Volponi Paolo Volponi (6 February 1924, in Urbino, – 23 August 1994, in Ancona) was an Italian writer, poet, and politician. Biography Volpino was born February 6, 1924, in Urbino, Italy. He would join the Italian partisans in 1943. He studied law ...

, '' La macchina mondiale'' *1966 – Michele Prisco, ''Una spirale di nebbia'' *1967 –

Anna Maria Ortese Anna Maria Ortese (; June 13, 1914 – March 9, 1998) was an Italian author of novels, short stories, poetry, and travel writing. Born in Rome, she grew up between southern Italy and Tripoli, with her formal education ending at age thirteen ...

, ''Poveri e semplici'' *1968 –

Alberto Bevilacqua Alberto Bevilacqua (27 June 1934 – 9 September 2013) was an Italian writer and filmmaker. Leonardo Sciascia, an Italian writer and politician, read Bevilacqua's first collection of stories, ''The Dust on the Grass'' (1955), was impressed and ...

, ''L'occhio del gatto'' *1969 –

Lalla Romano Graziella "Lalla" Romano (11 November 1906 in Demonte – 26 June 2001 in Milan) was an Italian novelist, poet, artist and journalist. Life and work Romano was born as Graziella Romano in Demonte in 1906 from a noteworthy Piedmontese famil ...

, ''Le parole tra noi leggere'' *1970 –

Guido Piovene Guido Piovene (27 July 1907 – 12 November 1974) was an Italian writer and journalist. Biography Born in Vicenza into a noble family, Piovene graduated in philosophy in Milan and then devoted himself to journalism, notably collaborating with ...

, ''Le stelle fredde'' *1971 – Raffaello Brignetti, ''La spiaggia d'oro'' *1972 –

Giuseppe Dessì Giuseppe Dessì (7 August 1909 – 6 July 1977) was an Italian novelist, short-story writer and playwright from Sardinia. His novel ''Paese d'ombre'' won the 1972 Strega Prize and was translated into English as ''The Forests of Norbio''. Dessì g ...

, ''Paese d'ombre'' *1973 –

Manlio Cancogni Manlio is a given name. Notable people with the given name include: *Manlio Argueta (born 1935), Salvadoran writer, critic and novelist *Manlio Bacigalupo (1908–1977), Italian football player and manager *Manlio De Angelis (1935–2017), Italian ...

, ''Allegri, gioventù'' *1974 – Guglielmo Petroni, ''La morte del fiume'' *1975 –

Tommaso Landolfi Tommaso Landolfi (9 August 1908 – 8 July 1979) was an Italian writer, translator and literary critic. His numerous grotesque tales and novels, sometimes on the border of speculative fiction, science fiction and realism, place him in a unique a ...

, ''A caso'' *1976 – Fausta Cialente, ''Le quattro ragazze Wieselberger'' *1977 –

Fulvio Tomizza Fulvio Tomizza (26 January 1935 – 21 May 1999) was an Italian writer. He was born in Giurizzani di Materada in Istria, to a middle-class family. His mother was Margherita Frank Trento, born into a poor family of Slavic extraction. His father, ...

, ''La miglior vita'' *1978 –

Ferdinando Camon Ferdinando Camon (born in Montagnana 1935) is a contemporary Italian writer. He is married to a journalist and has two sons: Alessandro Camon, a film producer/writer who lives in Los Angeles, and Alberto, who teaches criminal procedure and li ...

, ''Un altare per la madre'' *1979 –

Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works ...

, ''La chiave a stella'' *1980 – Vittorio Gorresio, ''La vita ingenua'' *1981 –

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...

, ''Il nome della rosa'' *1982 –

Goffredo Parise Goffredo Parise (8 December 1929 in Vicenza – 31 August 1986 in Treviso) was an Italian writer, journalist, and screenwriter. He won the Viareggio Prize in 1965 for his novel ''Il padrone'' ''(The Boss)'' and the Strega Prize in 1982 for ''S ...

, ''Il sillabario n.2'' *1983 – Mario Pomilio, ''Il Natale del 1833'' *1984 –

Pietro Citati Pietro Citati (20 February 1930 – 28 July 2022) was an Italian writer and literary critic. He was born in Florence. He wrote critical biographies of Goethe, Alexander the Great, Kafka and Marcel Proust as well as a short memoir on his thirty-ye ...

, ''Tolstoj'' *1985 – Carlo Sgorlon, ''L'armata dei fiumi perduti'' *1986 –

Maria Bellonci Maria Villavecchia Bellonci (30 November 1902 – 13 May 1986) was an Italian writer, historian and journalist, known especially for her biography of Lucrezia Borgia. She and Guido Alberti established the Strega Prize in 1947. Biography Bellonc ...

, ''

Rinascimento privato ''Rinascimento privato'' (''Private Renaissance'') was the last novel written by the Italian writer Maria Bellonci. It won the Strega Prize in 1986. It is a fictional autobiography of Isabella d'Este, covering the major years of the Italian Renais ...

'' *1987 – Stanislao Nievo, ''Le isole del paradiso'' *1988 –

Gesualdo Bufalino Gesualdo Bufalino (; Comiso, Italy, 15 November 1920 – 14 June 1996), was an Italian writer. Biography Gesualdo Bufalino was born in Comiso, Sicily. He studied literature and was a high-school professor in his hometown, for most of his life ...

, ''Le menzogne della notte '' *1989 –

Giuseppe Pontiggia Giuseppe Pontiggia (; 25 September 1934 – 27 June 2003) was an Italian writer and literary critic. Biography He was born in Como, and moved to Milan with his family in 1948. In 1959 he graduated from the Università Cattolica in Milan with a ...

, ''La grande sera '' *1990 –

Sebastiano Vassalli Sebastiano Vassalli (24 October 1941 – 26 July 2015) was an Italian author. He wrote the 2007 novel ''The Italian (L'italiano)''. Vassalli was born in Genoa, Italy in 1941. His mother are from Tuscany and father were from Lombardy. At a ver ...

, ''La chimera'' *1991 –

, ''La strada per Roma'' *1992 –

Vincenzo Consolo Vincenzo Consolo (18 February 1933 – 21 January 2012) was an Italian writer. Consolo was born in Sant'Agata di Militello, but resided in Milan from 1969 until his death. He began his literary career in 1963, but gained wider attention in 197 ...

, ''Nottetempo, ''casa per casa'' *1993 –

Domenico Rea Domenico is an Italian given name for males and may refer to: People * Domenico Alfani, Italian painter * Domenico Allegri, Italian composer * Domenico Alvaro, Italian mobster * Domenico Ambrogi, Italian painter * Domenico Auria, Italian archit ...

, ''Ninfa plebea'' *1994 – Giorgio Montefoschi, ''La casa del padre'' *1995 –

Mariateresa Di Lascia Mariateresa Di Lascia (3 January 1954 – 10 September 1994) was an Italian politician and writer, activist, human rights' supporter and advocate of non-violence. Biography Di Lascia was born in Rocchetta Sant'Antonio, Italy. She attended colleg ...

, ''Passaggio in ombra'' *1996 –

Alessandro Barbero Alessandro Barbero (born April 30, 1959) is an Italian historian, novelist and essayist. Barbero was born in Turin. He attended the University of Turin, where he studied literature and Medieval history. He won the 1996 Strega Prize, Italy's mos ...

, ''Bella vita e guerre altrui di Mr. Pyle, 'gentiluomo *1997 –

Claudio Magris Claudio Magris (born 10 April 1939) is an Italian scholar, translator and writer. He was a senator for Friuli-Venezia Giulia from 1994 to 1996. Life Magris graduated from the University of Turin, where he studied German studies, and has been a ...

, ''Microcosmi '' *1998 –

Enzo Siciliano Enzo Siciliano (27 May 1934 – 9 June 2006) was an Italian writer, playwright, literary critic and intellectual. Siciliano was born in Rome. He was collaborator of Alberto Moravia, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Elsa Morante and many other famous w ...

, ''I bei momenti '' *1999 –

Dacia Maraini Dacia Maraini (; born November 13, 1936) is an Italian writer. Maraini's work focuses on women's issues, and she has written numerous plays and novels. She has won awards for her work, including the Formentor Prize for ''L'età del malessere'' ...

, ''Buio '' *2000 –

Ernesto Ferrero Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to: * ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975 ** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...

, ''N. '' *2001 –

Domenico Starnone Domenico Starnone (born 15 February 1943) is an Italian writer, screenwriter and journalist. Born in Saviano, near Naples, he has worked for several newspapers and satirical magazines, including ''L'Unità'', '' Il Manifesto'', ''Tango'', and '' ...

, ''Via Gemito '' *2002 –

Margaret Mazzantini Margaret Mazzantini (; born 27 October 1961) is an Italians, Italian-Irish people, Irish writer and actress. She became a film, television and stage actor, but is best known as a writer. Mazzantini began her acting career in 1980 starring in th ...

, ''Non ti muovere '' *2003 –

Melania Mazzucco Melania Gaia Mazzucco (born 6 October 1966) is an Italian author. She is a recipient of the Strega Prize and Bagutta Prize. Education and career Mazzucco graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in 1990 and the Sapienza Universit ...

, ''Vita'' *2004 – Ugo Riccarelli, ''Il dolore perfetto '' *2005 – Maurizio Maggiani, ''Il viaggiatore notturno '' *2006 – Sandro Veronesi, ''Caos calmo'' *2007 –

Niccolò Ammaniti Niccolò Ammaniti () is an Italian writer, winner of the Premio Strega in 2007 for ''As God Commands'' (also published under the title ''The Crossroads''). He became noted in 2001 with the publication of ''I'm Not Scared'' (''Io non ho paura''), ...

, '' Come Dio comanda'' *2008 –

Paolo Giordano Paolo Giordano (born 1982) is an Italian writer who won the Premio Strega literary award with his first novel ''The Solitude of Prime Numbers''. Biography Paolo Giordano was born on December 19, 1982, in Turin, Italy. He studied physics at ...

, '' La solitudine dei numeri primi'' *2009 –

Tiziano Scarpa Tiziano Scarpa (born 16 May 1963) is an Italian novelist, playwright and poet. Born in Venice, he won the 2009 Strega Prize The Strega Prize ( it, Premio Strega ) is the most prestigious Italian literary award. It has been awarded annually sin ...

, ''Stabat mater'' *2010 – Antonio Pennacchi, ''Canale Mussolini'' *2011 – Edoardo Nesi, ''Storia della mia gente'' *2012 – Alessandro Piperno, ''Inseparabili'' *2013 – Walter Siti, ''Resistere non serve a niente'' *2014 – Francesco Piccolo, ''Il desiderio di essere come tutti'' *2015 – Nicola Lagioia, ''La Ferocia'' *2016 – Edoardo Albinati, ''La scuola cattolica'' *2017 – Paolo Cognetti, ''Le otto montagne'' *2018 –

Helena Janeczek Helena Janeczek (born 1964) is an Italian novelist of Polish Jewish origin. Life and career Helena Janeczek was born in Munich, Germany, from a Polish family of Jews who survived the Holocaust. She moved to Italy when she was 19 and has lived the ...

, ''La ragazza con la Leica'' *2019 –

Antonio Scurati Antonio Scurati (born 25 June 1969) is an Italian writer and academic. In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious Strega Prize for his novel ''M. Son of the Century, M: Son of the Century'' (2018). Early life and education Scurati was born in Na ...

, '' M. Il figlio del secolo'' *2020 – Sandro Veronesi, '' Il colibrì'' *2021 – Emanuele Trevi, ''Due vite'' *2022 – Mario Desiati, ''Spatriati''

References

External links

Sito ufficiale del Premio Strega

Library of Congress

from the Strega Alberti company

(The official short biographies of the 11 finalists in the 2006 edition). {{Authority control Strega Prize, Awards established in 1947 Italian literary awards Strega 1947 establishments in Italy