Concita De Gregorio is the new president of the Mandrarossa Prize

“For this wonderful initiative I take the baton from Aldo Cazzullo and I am very honored – declared Concita De Gregorio. – The combination of books and wine, independent bookshops and quality labels: this characteristic of the Mandrarossa Prize tells of different forms of belonging and resistance to the territory. The culture of the land is this: keeping a shop, an independent bookshop, a library open today is a true political act. It means not adapting or selling yourself or bowing to the most profitable massification. It is a revolutionary attitude that must be supported and rewarded. And my idea of a prize is precisely this: to illuminate what we do not know enough and to give opportunities to voices that are not well known enough. The Mandrarossa Prize gives a voice to those who have no voice, it illuminates and introduces new faces.

The finalists of the Mandrarossa Prize will be nominated by a technical jury composed of Franco Cardini, Neria de Giovanni, Eleonora Lombardo, Carlo Alberto Moretti, Christian Rocca and Nadia Terranova, after the evaluation of the 93 titles nominated by the independent bookstores. Each thematic section of the Award will have a winner and dialogues with a Mandrarossa label, which evokes a story linked to a place. As in the first edition, the Mandrarossa Narrative Prize includes an overall first prize, a second and a third place. The independent bookstores belong to the cities that have been capitals of Italian culture since 2015 with the addition of Rome, Naples, Milan and, internationally, those of the cities of Barcelona, ​​Boston, Paris and Marseille. The awards ceremony will be held on 25 July 2026 in the Archaeological Park of Selinunte in the evocative setting of the Temple of Hera. Following this, the evening will continue with “Mother. A conversation, no fault, one hundred thousand women”, with Concita De Gregorio and Melania Petriello.