Marco Lodoli: “An award with solidarity content repositions literature in its place of origin”

The five and three finalist works for the fifth edition of the Mastercard Literature Award and the Mastercard Literature Award for Newcomers have been selected. Contenders for the first will be Laura Forti with ‘The useless daughter’ (Guanda), Antonio Franchini with ‘The fire that you carry inside’ (Marsilio publishers), Deborah Gambetta with ‘Incompletezza’ (Ponte alle Grazie), Michele Mari with ‘Locus desperatus’ (Einaudi) and Antonio Moresco with ‘Song of darkness and light’ (Feltrinelli). In the running for the second are Emanuela Anechoum with ‘Tangerinn’ (Edizioni e/o), Pier Paolo Di Mino with ‘Lo splendor’ (Laurana editore) and Michele Ruol with ‘Inventory of what remains after the forest burns’ (TerraRossa editions). While waiting for the announcement of the winners, scheduled for 7 December during Più libri liberi, Agi met with the President of the Jury of the Mastercard Prize Marco Lodoli, to understand in what terms this particular recognition supports, alongside the literary value, that of some projects in the field of solidarity.

How does the Mastercard Prize combine the valorization of books with that of worthy initiatives?

In addition to a reward worth 10,000 euros, the winner will be given a further award to be allocated to humanitarian projects, worth 120,000 euros. The donation will be distributed among the organizations proposed and financed by Fondazione 153: Banco Alimentare, Busajo NGO, Caritas, Progetto Rwanda, Save the Children. One third of the sum will go to the organization chosen by the winner, after consulting the other finalists, while the remaining two will be distributed equally among the other organizations. The funded projects must aim above all at improving the health and educational conditions of girls and boys in poverty. The winner of the Mastercard Literature Award for Newcomers will simply be awarded a cash prize worth 3,000 euros.

To what extent has it now become necessary, in your opinion, to give a different, further meaning to the classic concept of literary prize?

Enriching a recognition of solidarity contents repositions literature in its place of origin: where human discomfort and existential suffering are found to which we try to give explanation and meanings with words. In recent years, literature has too often been interpreted as a gateway to the so-called ‘Grand Hotel of Success’; it is essential that it returns to its natural role, however: that of being on the side of those who struggle, struggle in existence, and need literary responses of solidarity

In his latest book ‘Tanto Poco’ (Einaudi) he talks about devotion and love that does not ask, that is sufficient in itself: can it be said to be an idea similar to that of solidarity?

Given that each book is a world unto itself and each writer has its own particularities, in this historical moment so dry in terms of feelings and impulses it seemed appropriate to tell of an infinite, absolute love, similar to a sacred devotion. In ‘Tanto Poco’ the theme is obviously expressed in its particular novelistic dimension, but its choice certainly arises from the perception that it is necessary to talk about great feelings between people in these times.

Your debut, with ‘Diary of a millennium that runs away’, was lightning-fast: what elements struck you, in particular, in the texts presented at the 2024 Mastercard Literature Award for Newcomers and what do you recommend to those working on their first book?

The texts of debut authors are always different, it is difficult to bring them back to a common denominator. Certainly, those of the three Mastercard finalists can be defined as surprising, not homologated. Today a lot of literature seems to follow the news, favoring the most ‘chewed’ themes of the moment, but in this particular case I encountered unpredictable views on important aspects of human life, both private and collective. I have no advice for those who write their first book, but if you have found the courage to face the great undertaking of building a world with words you must also be able to find the courage to believe in your work, trying to make it read. In this historical moment there is a lot of research and just as much attention on the part of publishing houses: if a text is really good, it will certainly be considered and published.

‘Diary of a fleeting millennium’ won the prestigious Mondello Opera Prima, launching it: is it still possible for an award to change the artistic life of an author?

I don’t believe that the creative drive of certain individuals, such as artists, can depend on a prize. If this drive is truly strong and vital, it will not be a recognition that will change the existential and inspirational path of those who possess it. What leads you to write is an energy that imposes itself in a necessary, absolute way, and must simply be followed, regardless of any recognition