Viareggio-Rèpaci Prize, the grand finale of the 97th edition on 23 and 24 July

The 97th edition will start on Thursday 23 July, at 9.30 pm. The evening, hosted by Tg1 journalist Monia Venturini, will be opened by institutional greetings from the mayor of Viareggio Sara Grilli. Following this, Paolo Dal Bon, president of the Gaber Foundation, will call on stage the winner of the “Il Luogo del Pensiero” Award – writing for theatre-song. It will then be the turn of the Tobino Prize: Isabella Tobino and Marco Cecchini, CEO of Due Tecno Spa, will welcome Lino Guanciale, winner of the award dedicated to the writer from Viareggio. The Foundation awarded the award to the actor, one of the most popular on the Italian scene, for having been able to portray the figure of Mario Tobino with extraordinary intensity in the Rai drama Le libera donne. And again, the mayor Sara Grilli will hand over the City of Viareggio Award to Massimo Marsili, president of the Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Foundation, who will offer a lectio dedicated to the city, followed by the screening of a historical video on the Viareggio-Rèpaci Award. From here we will enter the heart of the evening with the meeting with the authors: the finalists of the poetry, non-fiction and fiction sections will take turns on stage in a mix of dialogues, readings and discussions with the jury, describing the competing works and the themes that run through them. For poetry, the juror Maria Borio will read some passages from Crescere, la Guerra (Einaudi) by Francesca Mannocchi, È scorched earth (Valigie Rosse) by Lucia Re and Seven songs against discontent (Garzanti) by Davide Rondoni.

The protagonists of the non-fiction section – the winner Pierluigi Battista, author of The Jewish Professor Persecuted Twice. Tullio Terni and Italian hypocrisy (La Nave di Teseo), Claudio Giunta, author of Pop and Happiness (Mondadori), and Filippo La Porta, with In Praise of Ordinary Life (Il Saggiatore) – will discuss with Costanza Geddes da Filicaia, professor of contemporary Italian literature and head of the literary secretariat of the Prize, Leonardo Colombati, vice-president of the jury and Monia Venturini. The evening will close with the presentation of the finalists of the narrative section: Mattia Insolia with La vita nuova (Mondadori), Eleonora Marangoni with L’imperdibile (Feltrinelli) and Anna Voltaggio with La santa degli altri (Neri Pozza). The juror Giorgio Biferali will also talk to them, together with the presenter and Colombati.

The final event of the Viareggio-Rèpaci Prize 2026 will be staged on Friday 24 July, at 9.30 pm, with an irresistible opening entrusted to the verve of Riccardo Rossi, who will welcome the public with his usual irony and lightness. The presenter Monia Venturini, the president of the jury Paolo Mieli and the vice-president Leonardo Colombati will take the stage to celebrate the authors and personalities awarded in the different sections. The International Award will be awarded to Yaryna Grusha, the Journalism Award to Marianna Aprile and the First Work Award to Silvia Di Paolo. The ceremony will culminate with the most awaited moment: the proclamation of the winner of the Viareggio-Rèpaci Prize for fiction, which will officially close the 2026 edition, renewing a tradition that has represented one of the points of reference in Italian cultural life for almost a century.

The jury of the Viareggio-Rèpaci Prize is composed of Paolo Mieli (President) – journalist, essayist and historian, Leonardo Colombati (vice president) – writer, Luca Alvino – poet, Maria Pia Ammirati – television executive, writer and journalist, Camilla Baresani – writer and teacher, Giorgio Biferali – writer and teacher, Maria Borio – poet, Gabriella Buontempo – film producer, Diamante D’Alessio – journalist, Francesca Ferrandi – author, Costanza Geddes da Filicaia – teacher of contemporary Italian literature, Emma Giammattei – teacher of Italian literature, Luciano Luciani – professor and journalist, Mirella Serri – teacher of literature and journalism, Alice Urciuolo – writer and screenwriter for cinema and serials.