Who will the 78th edition of Witch Award?
To the semi-final of the most coveted Italian recognition (the June 5th at the Roman Theater of Benevento) there are now about two weeks left, and the voiceswhich at times coincide and at times contradict each other, ineluctably intensify.
Rereading today i very first background collected from ilLibraio.it in mid-January, we find different ones confirmations and some surprises.
As expected, this year it was exceeded record of books proposed by the jurors achieved in 2023 (as happened the year before, and as, we would be willing to bet, it is very likely that it will happen in 2025…), with well 82 titlesamong which the Steering Committee of the Roman prize has selected i 12 semi-finalists.
And so we come to the predictions on the final success…
It is unlikely that he will enter the final with first place in the top five (or more probably sextupletas we will see), but Donatella Di Pietrantoniowith The fragile age (Einaudi, proposed by Vittorio Lingiardi), remains the favorite to win.
The Abruzzo author of The Arminutathe longseller with which Di Pietrantonio won the 55th edition of Campielloreturns to Strega after second place in 2021, then behind Emanuele Trevi, and this time he is aiming for victory.
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It has though more than a contender: two authors, in particular, also linked to the publishing house in Via Biancamano…
Let’s talk about Antonella Lattanziin the dozen with Things that aren’t told (proposed by Valeria Parrella) and, above all, of Chiara Valeriothe surprise protagonist of this edition, author for Sellerio of Who says and who is silent (proposed by Matteo Motolese), who before this novel had published his latest works with the Turin brand.
Two Einaudi books in the final (Di Pietrantonio and Lattanzi)? Not to be ruled out, indeed, and it wouldn’t be the first time: the publishing house, among other things, with a roll of honor in hand, has already demonstrated that it can win in these cases (as in 2022 with Mario Desiati, and the presence in the sextuplet, then, of Veronica Raimo).
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But before arriving at Thursday evening 4th Julywhen in the garden of National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia (and live on television on Rai 3), the final will be held, in which, among other things, the live counting of the last one hundred votes cast by the jury will be restored, and when Valerio could play for the final victory with Di Pietrantoniolet’s focus on the rumors linked to the Benevento semi-final.
In this regard, it cannot be ruled out that he will enter the final in first place Dario Voltoliniauthor of Winter (The ship of Theseus, proposed by Sandro Veronesi), followed by the three authors we talked about in the first part of the article (if so, we will see in what order).
But in addition to Voltolini, he also points to the Nymphaeum Paolo Di Paoloauthor of Novel without humans (proposed by Gianni Amelio); also the Feltrinelli Grouplike Einaudi, however, has two dozen books to manage: as we wrote in mid-April, after the controversies of the past few weeks which have contributed to the recent sales of the book, Valentina Miraauthor On the same side you will find me (SEM, proposed by Franco Di Mare, who passed away a few days ago) could aspire to a place in the final (compared to a few weeks ago, however, Di Paolo seems to have a better chance).
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As we anticipated, this year too the Premio Strega could have a six-way finalgiven that, by regulation, he must take part in the final at least one book published by a small publisher. According to rumors, the “favorite” for the sixth is Tommaso Giartosiothe author of Autobiogrammar, published by the Roman minimum fax and proposed by Emanuele Trevi.
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However, it is more difficult to hope for sixth position Sonia Aggio (In the emperor’s roomFazi, proposed by Simona Cives) e Adrian N. Well done (AdelaidaNutrients, proposed by Romana Petri).
Among those aiming for the final, by definition (even if In Segrate, to tell the truth, victory has been missing since 2012…), there is Mondadori, this year in a dozen with Raffaella Romagnolo and its Fixing the universe, proposed by Lia Levi. It won’t be easy.
Cinquena/sestina which at the moment appears complicated to reach even for Melissa Panarelloauthor History of my money (Bompiani, proposed by Nadia Terranova) e Daniele Rielliin the bookstore with The invisible fire – Human story of a natural disaster (Rizzoli, proposed by Antonio Pascale).
We were talking about the controversy (political, actually) that has recently taken center stage On the same side you will find me. So far this year, apart from the “chance” Fulvio Abbate, no significant disputes have yet been recorded at the Strega. We’ll see in the next few weeks…
