The Strega Prize is the most important Italian literary award since 1947. Each year it honours
the best work of prose fiction written in the Italian language by an author of any nationality.
The Dante Alighieri Society of BC
has been nominated Literary Presidium of the Strega Prize 2022.
If you would like to know what being a Literary Presidium means, click here.
The 2022 edition of the Strega Prize starts: from 1 February to 1 March the Amici della Domenica, the historical nucleus of the jury, will be able to report, with the author's consent, a work of fiction published between 1 March 2021 and on February 28, 2022. (ANSA)
Looking forward to finding out who will be the winner of the 2022 Strega Prize!
...What is the Strega Prize?
The Strega Prize originated in Italy in 1944 as a literary salon in Rome, at its original founders' home, Maria and Goffredo Bellonci.
These were Sunday gatherings of writers, artists and intellectuals, some of the most notable figures of the Italian cultural life. The group became known as the Amici della Domenica, or ‘Sunday Friends’. In 1947 Guido Alberti, owner of the firm producing the iconic yellow
Strega liqueur, joined the Belloncis, to sponsor a prize for fiction, the winner being chosen by the Sunday friends.
This intellectual institution continued throughout the years, becoming the most honorable literary prize in Italy ever since.
Every year, the best prose writer is nominated for the award: the first writer to receive such a prize was Ennio Flaiano with the novel
Tempo di Uccidere (The Short Cut); the first woman-writer was Elsa Morante in 1957, with L'Isola di Arturo (Arturo's Island).
To learn more about the winning titles nominated throughout the years click here.
The selection is based on the votes of 400 individuals, still called Amici della domenica. Each member selects three of the twelve titles that
they liked the most and only 5 books can become the finalists. The last round of votes determines the final winner of the the Strega Prize!
This year for the first time, The Dante Alighieri Society of BC has become a Literary Presidium, an active part of the Amici della domenica committee and will be contributing to the nomination of the 2021 Strega Prize winner!