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. M ...

. 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 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 ( ...

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 Strega, the Italian word for ''witch'', may refer to: *Strega, a group of pagan magic users who are part of the protectors of Venice in the Heirs of Alexandria series by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer *Stregheria, or the Strega traditi ...

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, 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 Ita ...

. 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, Rome.

Sponsorship

Telecom Italia 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, 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 ...

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.

Winners

*1947 – Ennio Flaiano, ''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, in a family of Marche origin. His father was Antonio Romagnoli. His studies were ir ...

, ''Villa Tarantola'' *1949 –

Giambattista Angioletti Giovanni Battista Angioletti (27 November 1896 – 3 August 1961) was an Italian writer and journalist. Life Angioletti was born in Milan in 1896 and was gifted with a lively and reflective intelligence. His plans to qualify as an engineer we ...

, ''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 lif ...

, ''La bella estate'' *1951 – Corrado Alvaro, ''Quasi una vita'' *1952 – Alberto Moravia, ''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, ''Lettere da Capri'' *1955 –

Giovanni Comisso Giovanni Comisso (3 October 1895 – 21 January 1969) was an important Italian writer of the twentieth century, appreciated by Eugenio Montale, Umberto Saba, Gianfranco Contini and many others. Life Comisso was born in Treviso, where, during ...

, ''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 wi ...

, ''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 an ...

, ''

L'isola di Arturo ''Arturo's Island'' ( it, L'isola di Arturo) is a novel by Italian author Elsa Morante. Published in 1957, it won the Premio Strega. Plot synopsis In the novel, Arturo, a small boy, grows up on the island of Procida in the Bay of Naples. The isla ...

'' *1958 – Dino Buzzati, '' 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'' *1960 – Carlo Cassola, ''

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 ''Figure ...

'' *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 characterize ...

, ''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, f ...

, '' Lessico famigliare'' *1964 –

Giovanni Arpino Giovanni Arpino (27 January 1927 – 10 December 1987) was an Italian writer and journalist. Life Born in Pula-Croatia to Piedmontese parents, Arpino moved to Bra in the Province of Cuneo. Here he married Caterina Brero before moving to Turin ...

, ''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, ''Poveri e semplici'' *1968 – Alberto Bevilacqua, ''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''. Dess� ...

, ''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 Guglielmo () is the Italian form of the masculine name William. It may refer to: People with the given name Guglielmo: * Guglielmo I Gonzaga (1538–1587), Duke of Mantua and Montferrat * Guglielmo Achille Cavellini (1914–1990), influential It ...

, ''La morte del fiume'' *1975 – Tommaso Landolfi, ''A caso'' *1976 –

Fausta Cialente Fausta Terni Cialente (29 November 1898 – 11 March 1994) was an Italian novelist, journalist and political activist.'Cialente, Fausta Terni', in Buck, Claire, ed., ''Bloomsbury Guide to Women's Literature'', 1992, p.422. She is a recipient of the ...

, ''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, ''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 th ...

, ''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 '' ...

, ''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, ''

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 Stanislao Nievo (born 30 June 1928 in Milan, died in 2006 in Roma) was an Italian writer, journalist and director. He won the Strega Prize. He was the great grandson of Ippolito Nievo,Gesualdo Bufalino, ''Le menzogne della notte '' *1989 –

Giuseppe Pontiggia Giuseppe Pontiggia (; 25 September 1934 – 27 June 2003) was an Italian literature, 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 Cattoli ...

, ''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 19 ...

, ''Nottetempo, ''casa per casa'' *1993 – Domenico Rea, ''Ninfa plebea'' *1994 – Giorgio Montefoschi, ''La casa del padre'' *1995 – Mariateresa Di Lascia, ''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 m ...

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

, ''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, ''N. '' *2001 – Domenico Starnone, ''Via Gemito '' *2002 –

Margaret Mazzantini Margaret Mazzantini (; born 27 October 1961) is an Italian- 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 the cult horror classic ' ...

, ''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, '' 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 Alessandro Piperno (born 25 March 1972 in Rome) is an Italian writer and literary critic of Jewish descent, having a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. He graduated in French Literature at the University of Rome, where he currently teaches and ...

, ''Inseparabili'' *2013 –

Walter Siti Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

, ''Resistere non serve a niente'' *2014 –

Francesco Piccolo Francesco Piccolo (born 1964) is an Italian author of novels, short stories and screen plays. In 2014, he won Italy's leading literary award the Premio Strega for ''Il desiderio di essere come tutti''. Life and career Piccolo was born at Casert ...

, ''Il desiderio di essere come tutti'' *2015 – Nicola Lagioia, ''La Ferocia'' *2016 – Edoardo Albinati, ''La scuola cattolica'' *2017 –

Paolo Cognetti Paolo Cognetti (born 27 January 1978 in Milan) is an Italian writer. He started studying mathematics at university, but quit to enroll at Milan's film-making school ''Civica Scuola di Cinema «Luchino Visconti»'', where he graduated in 1999. He ...

, ''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 t ...

, ''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 Emanuele Trevi (born 1964) is an Italian writer and critic. He was born in Rome, the son of Mario Trevi, a Jungian psychoanalyst. Trevi has written numerous critical essays on literary figures. His work on the Italian poet Pietro Tripodo won ...

, ''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

1947 establishments in Italy