Campiello Prize 2024, the winner is Federica Manzon

Federica Manzon with ‘Alma’ wins the Campiello. The only writer of the five of the 62nd edition obtained with her book, published by Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, 101 votes out of the 287 expressed by the Jury of anonymous readers (13 did not express preferences). The proclamation took place this evening in the historic venue of the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice. The award was presented by Enrico Carraro, president of Confindustria Veneto and the Il Campiello Foundation, and the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini.

“Since it is a book that was born on the border, I would like to dedicate my victory, – to all those people who are crossing the borders especially the eastern border of Trieste, and who do so by imagining and dreaming of a present, even before a better future. And at a time when in Trieste, even before other parts of Europe, the Schengen treaty was suspended and is still suspended, I would like this little thing of mine to somehow be a good omen for going instead to a another direction and don’t go back.”

The other finalists who competed for the coveted “wellhead” were: Antonio Franchini (“The fire you carry inside”, Marsilio), who obtained 78 votes, Emanuele Trevi (“The Magician’s House”, Ponte alle Grazie ) with 66 votes, Michele Mari (“Locus Desperatus”, Giulio Einaudi publisher) with 33 votes and Vanni Santoni (“Spread everywhere”, Laterza Publishers) with 6 votes.

Federica Manzon, 42 years old, originally from Pordenone, who now lives between Milan and Trieste, with “Alma” has written a novel where identity, memory and history – personal, family, of countries – continually seek and escape each other , making Trieste a point of view from which to look at our difficult attempts to understand who we are and where our home is.

The final evening was attended by a parterre of around a thousand guests including institutional guests, representatives of the business world, culture and publishing houses; among them the president of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, the mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, and Emanuele Orsini, president of Confindustria.

The Il Campiello Foundation Award, a lifetime achievement award, was awarded to the journalist and writer Paolo Rumiz. During the ceremony, the winners of the other awards provided by the Il Campiello Foundation were also awarded: the First Work, awarded to Fiammetta Palpati with “La casa delle orphane bianca” (Laurana Editore): the Campiello Natura – Venice Gardens Foundation Award, won by Emanuela Evangelista with the book “Amazzonia. A life in the heart of the forest” (Editori Laterza); the winners of the second edition of Campiello Junior, Angelo Petrosino with “A child, a cat and a dog” (Einaudi Ragazzi) in the 7-10 year category, and Daniela Palumbo with “The most beautiful night” (Piemme) for the 11 category -14 years.

Finally, it was an opportunity to celebrate the winner of the 29th edition of Campiello Giovani, Giulia Arnoldi, 19 years old from Dalmine (Bergamo), who won the prize with the story “Just before the last agreement”. She was awarded by Cristina Balbo, regional director of Veneto Ovest and Trentino Alto Adige of Intesa Sanpaolo, main sponsor of the award and exclusive partner of Campiello Giovani.

Conducting the final ceremony of the award organized by the Il Campiello Foundation – Confindustria Veneto was Francesca Fialdini, television presenter, well-known face of Rai1, accompanied by Lodo Guenzi, musician (Lo Stato Sociale) and actor (Biraghi Award 2021). During the evening, there was also an exceptional guest: the singer-songwriter and presenter Luca Barbarossa who intervened during the show with some musical contributions. A musical composition by maestro Franco Mussida, founder and president of the Cpm Music Institute and of the Premiata Forneria Marconi, created specifically for the Campiello Prize, was also previewed.

With the 62nd edition, Enrico Carraro’s mandate as president of the Il Campiello Foundation comes to an end. “What Campiello awaits us in the future? It will be increasingly beautiful and increasingly successful”, said the president of Confindustria Veneto. “Our founders were enlightened industrialists because they understood very well more than 60 years ago that there could be no lasting economic growth without cultural growth.

After four years, Walter Veltroni, president of the Jury of Letterers, also leaves. “In these years of work we have had total autonomy and independence: no one has ever tried in any way from outside or inside to influence our work – explained Veltroni – The prestige of Campiello, and it was not at all easy given the its prestigious history, has grown further. We have consistently managed to find the dew point between the strength of the books, the interests of the readers and also the zeitgeist.” The other jurors are Pierluigi Battista, Alessandro Beretta, Federico Bertoni, Daniela Brogi, Silvia Calandrelli, Edoardo Camurri, Chiara Fenogli, Daria Galateria, Lorenzo Tomasin, Roberto Vecchioni and Emanuele Zinato.