Hemingway Prize to Crepet, Ammaniti, Messetti, Sonmez and Gasparini

The winners were announced today by the jury of the Hemingway Prize, chaired by Alberto Garlini, and composed of Gian Mario Villalta, artistic director of Pordenonelegge, the photography historian Italo Zannier and the vice-president and councilor for Culture and Sport of the autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia Mario Anzil on behalf of the president Massimiliano Fedriga. “This edition of the Hemingway Prize is a journey through some of the most authoritative and original voices of our time, capable of describing the world, its wounds, its transformations and its hopes – explains the president of the jury Alberto Garlini – What also makes this prize unique is the place that hosts it: Lignano Sabbiadoro, the beloved landing place of Ernest Hemingway and a meeting point between different cultures, landscapes and stories. Here, between the lagoon and the sea, literature and culture continue to be a space of freedom, dialogue and imagination aimed at the future”.

The five winners will give life, from Thursday 25th to Saturday 27th June, to a program of meetings, five dialogues called to mark the countdown to the 2026 awards ceremony, scheduled for Saturday 27th June, at 8.30pm, at the Cinecity in Lignano Sabbiadoro. The Award commemorates Ernest Hemingway’s historic visit to Lignano in April 1954, a few months before he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature: the five categories of the Award ideally reflect his multifaceted personality.

The 2026 Hemingway Prize for Literature goes to Niccolò Ammaniti “for having been able to narrate, with a visionary and concrete language, the most fragile and dark areas of existence, transforming narration into a tool capable of questioning the fears and contradictions of our time”. On Friday 26 June, at 9pm, at Cinecity, Ammaniti will talk about himself in the meeting “The custodian”, dedicated to the new novel published by Einaudi, in dialogue with Gian Mario Villalta. The Hemingway Prize “Adventure of thought” goes to Paolo Crepet “for having traversed, with a lucid, restless and profoundly human gaze, the crucial points of contemporary society”. On Saturday 27 June, at 5pm, at Cinecity, Crepet will discuss the themes of his latest essay, “Reclaiming your soul” (HarperCollins) with Valentina Gasparet. The Special Hemingway Lignano Prize for the Future goes to Giada Messetti “for having been able to combine analytical rigor and narrative ability, navigating the transformations of the contemporary world with a clear and participatory gaze”. Friday 26 June, at 6.30 pm, at Cinecity, Messetti will talk with Alberto Garlini about his latest book “When the swallows return. Friuli 1976: memories of an earthquake” (Mondadori). The Hemingway Prize “Witness of our time” goes to the Turkish-Kurdish writer Burhan Sönmez “for having been able to tell, through the power of literature, the pain, memory and dignity of those who live on the margins of history, transforming writing into a civil testimony”. On Saturday 27 June, at 11am at Cinecity, Sönmez will present his latest novel, “The lovers of Franz K” (Nottetempo), in dialogue with Michela Fregona. And to Paolo Gasparini goes the Hemingway Photography / Photobook Award – the only one in Italy dedicated specifically to this fundamental language of our time – for the publication “Adiós a la fotografía” (Ediciones Mal de Ojo). The meeting is scheduled for Thursday 25 June, at 9pm, in the Municipal Library of Lignano, in which the juror Italo Zannier and Paolo Gasparini’s son, Esteban Gasparini, will talk, with a video greeting brought by the winner.

“This year too, the Hemingway Prize, intercepting some of the most authoritative and significant voices on the international cultural scene, confirms itself as a meeting place between different languages and visions, capable of interpreting our time – comments the mayor of Lignano Sabbiadoro, Laura Giorgi – For the city it is a source of great pride to host an event which, year after year, increases its prestige. An Award which not only celebrates talent and creativity, but through dialogue, promotes knowledge and reflection on the great themes of our time, keeping alive the link with the cultural and human legacy of Ernest Hemingway and with the special relationship that the writer had with our city”.