The fiftieth edition of the Itas Mountain Book Award was won by the author Arno Camenisch with his Golden Years, published by Keller publishers. For the awards ceremony on Sunday 28 April, an evening show was organized open to all citizens, with two exceptional guests, to celebrate this important anniversary. The positive trend of the books in competition, 120 this year, and the audience that filled the Teatro Sociale, testify to the success of the Itas literary competition. The event, hosted by Raffaello Fusaro, was animated by Corrado Augias who said he was: «pleased to participate in this very important moment for the ITAS Award» and Veronica Pivetti, who enhanced the theme of the High Lands by combining the importance of the environment to the foresight of investing in the valorization of Alpine culture, as Itas Mutua does with its literary competition.
The winner was awarded by Alberto Pacher, deputy vice-president of ITAS Mutua and Giuseppe Consoli, outgoing president. This is the comment: «Many things have changed since 1971 but just as our Company has continued its activity as a mutual insurance company, the ITAS Award has continued its work of valorising the culture of the Highlands in all its forms and manifestations. A culture that has evolved naturally over time and that our Award has been able to best express not only by celebrating its works, but also by organizing a multiplicity of initiatives, projects, events and collaborations that have allowed the Award itself to identify itself as a truly litmus test for the cultural evolutions of society as a whole. We have thus realized that over time we have developed a particular sensitivity which is now also oriented towards the protection of this very delicate territory, which we have the duty to preserve as intact as possible for the generations who come after us”.
Golden years
In his book Arno Camenisch tells the story of Margrit and Rosa-Maria who for 51 years have been managing a kiosk and a fuel pump which are the point of reference for the entire town and for those who travel the roads of those mountains. Arno Camenisch outlines with great irony and a certain nostalgia a beautiful and luminous world that almost risks disappearing, in a story of universal value that makes a small corner of the mountains a mirror of our times.
Why Golden Years was chosen
The motivation with which the jury recognized the value of the work Golden Years is the following: «Arno Camenisch is fully a “mountain storyteller”; he grew up in the Alpine area, writes in German and in the Romansh of his native Canton of Grisons, and the point of view he adopts on the highlands in his latest novel left the jury enchanted. It could be said that Camenisch looks at the mountains from below, since the two protagonists of his story run a kiosk just eight hundred meters above sea level along the road that leads to a pass. Their observation point, therefore, is not simply placed at a modest altitude compared to the peaks that surround it, but coincides with an obligatory transit point for those – locals, day trippers or more or less illustrious holidaymakers – who move through the valley. How many times have we passed by an isolated petrol station, perhaps selling food and stationery items, and wondered what kind of life do the people who run it lead? With his latest book Camenisch gives us the answer, staging the memories and small squabbles of Margrit and Rosa-Maria, who have opened the kiosk every day since 1969. They have been seeing people pass by for fifty-odd years and collecting their confidences, and the flow of their dialogue coincides with the entire work. It feeds on the great snowfalls of the past and the sentimental events of the valley dwellers, on great questions about our place in the world and on the time when a World Cup was being played and the kids went crazy for the footballers’ stickers. The world has changed around them one month at a time, but Margrit and Maria-Rosa continue to turn on their yellow sign every day, which seems like the “main switch” of the town. We smile and are moved by reading about them, we reflect on what the mountains are becoming and we salute the talent of a true author, capable of finding the most authentic humanity even in a place that for most represents only a technical stopover , if not a useless distraction along the road that leads to one’s destination. For this reason, and for the author’s dry and evocative style, the jury that I have the honor of presiding awards “Golden Years” by Arno Camenisch the ITAS Award 2024″.
The jury’s comment
Enrico Brizzi, president of the Jury of the ITAS Award, expressed his opinion on the winning book and the meaning of an Award that boasts 50 editions: «The Itas Award celebrated its fiftieth edition, rightfully entering the ranks of the oldest literary awards.
For us it was an opportunity to retrace its history, from the pioneering years to those characterized by the jury presidency of Mario Rigoni Stern, with a special evening dedicated to the awards and a solemn celebratory volume. Long live our ITAS Award and the mountain book!
Winners in other categories
The other winners of the respective categories are Adam the climber by Pietro Dal Pra and Adam Ondra, Versante Sud, for the «Mountaineering and mountain sports» section; Va’ Sentiero by Yuri Basilicò and Sara Furlanetto, Rizzoli, for the «Guides and maps» section; Discovering the invisible. The incredible story of Alexander von Humboldt, by Volker Mehnert and Claudia Lieb, Donzelli, for the «Children’s books» section; The mountain of Carlo Mollino by Antonio De Rossi and Roberto Dini, Hoepli, for the «Research and environment» section.
Winner of the «Trentino special mention»: Mercanti di luce. Tesini opticians and photographers between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by Elda Fietta, Publistampa Edizioni. Another special mention was awarded to the Versante Sud publishing house, for the quality work consistently carried out in recent years in the publication of guides and maps.
The next presentations related to the Itas Award
In addition to the special awards evening, as per tradition, the usual events for the presentation of the winning works with the authors are also renewed within the program of the Trento Film Festival, precious opportunities for dialogue with the public of the ITAS Award: on 29 April, at 16, at the Literary Lounge in Piazza Duomo there will be the presentation of the book Golden Years with Arno Camenisch; on May 2, at 5.30 pm, the Literary Lounge in Piazza Duomo will host the presentation of the book Adam the climber with Petro Dal Pra; on May 4th, at 11am, at T4Future in Piazza Fiera it will be the turn of the book Discovering the invisible. The incredible story of Alexander von Humboldt.
The Itas Award at SalTo 2024
Also for 2024 the ITAS Prize will be the protagonist of the Turin International Book Fair, scheduled from 9 to 13 May. Alongside Trentino Marketing and Trento Film Festival, the Prize renews its participation in the space called the Mountain Room and will help animate 5 days of events to meet authors, publishers and mountain literature enthusiasts. The books featured in this edition will be presented in Turin, as well as two events dedicated to the live spectacularization of the «Bagliore» podcast by the ITAS Award.
