‘Lessons from the ruins’, Bregola’s hymn to writing proposed for the 2026 Strega prize

In the background there are the sandy edges of the Po, there is the province, with its countryside to cross by bicycle if the money in your pocket isn’t enough for petrol, there is a publishing and literary world that no longer exists today, there are thirty years that pass in the blink of an eye. These are the crucial years of growth and training of the protagonist, a true outsider who works on a temporary basis for the railways but wants to write. Who then works as a door-to-door salesman, as a seasonal worker, as an event organizer, but he always wants to write. There were some encounters, in different periods of his life, with poets and writers poorly illuminated by the dim lights of the limelight. They themselves have kept themselves hidden and it seems they have little or nothing to do with this nervous planet. But they dug a furrow inside him. They are authors of reference for the young writer, out of fashion, far from the market, but they will be fundamental for his existence and maturity. From the disorder of memory, the stories of these encounters emerge scattered – mixed with the rest of the life that has gone on in the meantime – yet shining, pregnant even when they touch on desperation and ruin. The book is a tribute to secluded writers, those who apparently do not move a leaf and instead end up changing the lives of readers. It is the attempt to connect with one’s dream. Ultimately, it is an invitation to each of us to find our own path and the guides best suited to our character and ambitions. With a light and painful writing, Davide Bregola gives us a magnificent memoir, written with the grace of inspiration.

Davide Bregola was born in Bondeno, in the province of Ferrara, and lives in Mantua. He won the Tondelli Prize for fiction (1999) with the collection of short stories ‘Viaggi e correspondenze’. In 2002 he dealt with migrant literature in Italian with the book ‘From here towards home’ and in 2005 with ‘Catalogue of voices’ he gave the floor to migrant poetry. He also wrote children’s books. He collaborates with the cultural pages of some newspapers, holds creative writing meetings and seminars. With Avagliano editore he published ‘The secret life of mammoths in the Po Valley’ (Chiara Prize, 2017), ‘Fossils and sturgeons. News from the houseboat’ (2019), and ‘In the ideal places for camping’ (2022) with which his ‘Plain Trilogy’ ends.