The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

The Strega Prize (Premio Strega) is the most prestigious Italian literary award. It has been awarded annually since 1947 for the best work of prose fiction written in the Italian language by an author of any nationality and first published between 1 May of the previous year and 30 April.

The longlist has been out for some time: https://premiostrega.it/PS/

The shortlist will be announced tomorrow via livestream: https://premiostrega.it/PS/annuncio-d...

Any intel?

Thanks, David!

I thought for sure, I'd read more of the winners (by chance, not by intent), but I've only read one...

Have you read any from this year's longlist?
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GR Strega Prize Winner's List: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

Chronological winner's list (buried in spoiler tag just to keep this comment shorter) (view spoiler)[
1947 – Ennio Flaiano, Tempo di uccidere
1948 – Vincenzo Cardarelli, Villa Tarantola
1949 – Giambattista Angioletti, La memoria
1950 – Cesare Pavese, La bella estate
1951 – Corrado Alvaro, Quasi una vita
1952 – Alberto Moravia, I racconti
1953 – Massimo Bontempelli, L'amante fedele
1954 – Mario Soldati, Lettere da Capri
1955 – Giovanni Comisso, Un gatto attraversa la strada
1956 – Giorgio Bassani, Cinque storie ferraresi
1957 – Elsa Morante, L'isola di Arturo
1958 – Dino Buzzati, Sessanta racconti
1959 – Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Il gattopardo
1960 – Carlo Cassola, La ragazza di Bube
1961 – Raffaele La Capria, Ferito a morte
1962 – Mario Tobino, Il clandestino
1963 – Natalia Ginzburg, Lessico famigliare
1964 – Giovanni Arpino, L'ombra delle colline
1965 – Paolo Volponi, La macchina mondiale
1966 – Michele Prisco, Una spirale di nebbia
1967 – Anna Maria Ortese, Poveri e semplici
1968 – Alberto Bevilacqua, L'occhio del gatto
1969 – Lalla Romano, Le parole tra noi leggere
1970 – Guido Piovene, Le stelle fredde
1971 – Raffaello Brignetti, La spiaggia d'oro
1972 – Giuseppe Dessì, Paese d'ombre
1973 – Manlio Cancogni, Allegri, gioventù
1974 – Guglielmo Petroni, La morte del fiume
1975 – Tommaso Landolfi, A caso
1976 – Fausta Cialente, Le quattro ragazze Wieselberger
1977 – Fulvio Tomizza, La miglior vita
1978 – Ferdinando Camon, Un altare per la madre
1979 – Primo Levi, La chiave a stella
1980 – Vittorio Gorresio, La vita ingenua
1981 – Umberto Eco, Il nome della rosa
1982 – Goffredo Parise, Il sillabario n.2
1983 – Mario Pomilio, Il Natale del 1833
1984 – Pietro Citati, Tolstoj
1985 – Carlo Sgorlon, L'armata dei fiumi perduti
1986 – Maria Bellonci, Rinascimento privato
1987 – Stanislao Nievo, Le isole del paradiso
1988 – Gesualdo Bufalino, Le menzogne della notte
1989 – Giuseppe Pontiggia, La grande sera
1990 – Sebastiano Vassalli, La chimera
1991 – Paolo Volponi, La strada per Roma
1992 – Vincenzo Consolo, Nottetempo, casa per casa
1993 – Domenico Rea, Ninfa plebea
1994 – Giorgio Montefoschi, La casa del padre
1995 – Mariateresa Di Lascia, Passaggio in ombra
1996 – Alessandro Barbero, Bella vita e guerre altrui di Mr. Pyle, 'gentiluomo'
1997 – Claudio Magris, Microcosmi
1998 – Enzo Siciliano, I bei momenti
1999 – Dacia Maraini, Buio
2000 – Ernesto Ferrero, N.
2001 – Domenico Starnone, Via Gemito
2002 – Margaret Mazzantini, Non ti muovere
2003 – Melania Mazzucco, Vita
2004 – Ugo Riccarelli, Il dolore perfetto
2005 – Maurizio Maggiani, Il viaggiatore notturno
2006 – Sandro Veronesi, Caos calmo
2007 – Niccolò Ammaniti, Come Dio comanda
2008 – Paolo Giordano, La solitudine dei numeri primi
2009 – Tiziano Scarpa, Stabat mater
2010 – Antonio Pennacchi, Canale Mussolini
2011 – Edoardo Nesi, Storia della mia gente
2012 – Alessandro Piperno, Inseparabili
2013 – Walter Siti, Resistere non serve a niente
2014 – Francesco Piccolo, Il desiderio di essere come tutti
2015 – Nicola Lagioia, La Ferocia
2016 – Edoardo Albinati, La scuola cattolica
2017 – Paolo Cognetti, Le otto montagne
2018 – Helena Janeczek, La ragazza con la Leica
2019 – Antonio Scurati, M. Il figlio del secolo
2020 – Sandro Veronesi, Il colibrì
2021 – Emanuele Trevi, Due vite
2022 – Mario Desiati, Spatriati (hide spoiler)]

This is interesting, thank you for posting. I am learning Italian, and some of these look good enough to attempt.

I wasn't familiar with any titles from this year's longlist. Il colibrì, which won a few years ago, made a bit of a splash when translated into English as The Hummingbird but I didn't read it.

This year's finalists for anyone interested: https://premiostrega.it/PS/

Are the Strega novels translated into English?

WndyJW wrote: "Are the Strega novels translated into English?"

I think often they are, but it's unrelated to the prize.

That's different from the Arabic Booker, which guarantees translation of the winner into English.

Elizabeth wrote: "This is interesting, thank you for posting. I am learning Italian, and some of these look good enough to attempt."

Several of these sound quite interesting. Report back if you tackle any of these Elizabeth.

Thanks for posting David. Apparently Rosella Postorino is the favourite as she got most votes going into the shortlist. Mi limitavo ad amare te is about the war in Bosnia in the 1990s and children from Sarajevo being brought to Italy and never returning. Not really my cup of tea I fear...

Of 'recent' winners I can recommend 2006, 2007 and 2018, but there is a lot more I didn't like. My impression for some years now is that Spanish literature is much more daring and innovative whereas the Italians have mostly stuck to more conventional storytelling (but of course this is a generalisation).

Antonio Scurati's 1000-page novel on Mussolini has been on my bedside table for a few years now, but I can't see myself finding the right mood for it any time soon...

Come d'aria by Ada D'Adamo won

Thanks for reminding Paul.

I see the shortlist was entirely made up of women and the books were all memoirs/autobiographies.

The winning author sadly passed away in April (she heard she was longlisted the day before she died). The book, written over many years, is about her diagnosis as well as her disabled daughter Daria (the title is a play on that name) who was born with a severe brain deformation that went undetected. It was published by a small Roman press that had never won before.

We've discussed this in a few places - but the Strega also has a translated literature prize (but European authors only - and not sure if that's EU and now excludes UK).

It's a fascinating one - as it has a rather impressive track record of Premio Strega Europeo winning author going on to win the International Booker Prize - the last 3 European winners of the International Booker, including Erpenbeck, had all previously won this.

The 2024 winner was announced this month - and it was Neige Sinno for Luciana Cisbani's translation of Triste Tigre. That's won big prizes in France as well - and is coming out in Spring 2025 in English translation from Seven Stories Press, so mark your Booker cards now. Other finalists included the Italian translation of Prophet Song.

That book is everywhere here in Brussels too...several times I almost picked it up, but the theme of sexual child abuse is so tough I am not sure when I'll be in the mood to pick it up...

Ruben wrote: "That book is everywhere here in Brussels too...several times I almost picked it up, but the theme of sexual child abuse is so tough I am not sure when I'll be in the mood to pick it up..."

It is one of the most devastating books ever!

Here are some updates on the Strega prize.

The longlist came out in April: https://premiostrega.it/PS/libri/?e-f...

The finalists were announced earlier this month: https://premiostrega.it/PS/libri/?e-f...

Here are the finalists:
- Romanzo senza umani
- L'età fragile
- Autobiogrammatica
- Aggiustare l'universo
- Chi dice e chi tace
- Invernale

Any intel?

The winner will be announced at an award ceremony 4-July.

I sure hope that Donatella di Pietrantonio title gets translated to English soon!

That caught my eye too. I see that one of her earlier books, L'Arminuta, was translated a few years ago and published by Europa Editions as A Girl Returned. It was longlisted for the BTBA (RIP) in 2020.

David wrote: "That caught my eye too. I see that one of her earlier books, L'Arminuta, was translated a few years ago and published by Europa Editions as A Girl Returned. It was l..."

I really enjoyed that book. But I think I loved the follow up, A Sister's Story, also published by Europa, even more. Fingers crossed this third title will also be translated by Ann Goldstein.

I haven't read either one. It looks like A Girl Returned and A Sister's Story have the same characters. I wonder if L'età fragile is the third in a sequence.

David wrote: "I haven't read either one. It looks like A Girl Returned and A Sister's Story have the same characters. I wonder if L'età fragile is the third in a sequence."

Yes, A Sister's Story is the sequel to A Girl Returned but I accidentally read them in the opposite order, still great! At a cursory glance at a translation of the summary of L'età fragile, it looks to be unrelated.

Rachel wrote: "I really enjoyed that book. But I think I loved the follow up, A Sister's Story, also published by Europa, even more."

I also read both, but liked the first better :) L´eta fragile sounds excellent too.

All other nominees are completely new to me...

David wrote: "I haven't read either one. It looks like A Girl Returned and A Sister's Story have the same characters. I wonder if L'età fragile is the third in a sequence."

No it's not a third novel Dave. It's a stand alone novel. It already won Strega Giovanni, which is a version of the prize where the students of highschool choose the winner. Just like Goncourt des lycéens.

Chances of Donatella taking the prize are high! The novel is great

Donatella di Pietrantonio with her third novel L'età fragile has just won The Strega prize (the Italian booker prize)

And Europa have confirmed it is out in translation next year in English (although not who translator is)

THE BRITTLE AGE by Donatella Di Pietrantonio has won the 2024 Strega Prize, Italy’s most prestigious literary award! 🏆✨

Coming in 2025 from Europa Editions & @EuropaEdUK!

Paul wrote: "And Europa have confirmed it is out in translation next year in English (although not who translator is)

THE BRITTLE AGE by Donatella Di Pietrantonio has won the 2024 Strega Prize, Italy’s most pr..."

A powerful, majestic book by a consumate novelist THE BRITTLE AGE coming 2025
@EuropaEditions

@EuropaEdUK
translated by the incredible Ann Goldstein WINS the 2024
@PremioStrega

A tweet by Micheal Reynolds confirms the translator: Ann Goldstien

I mentioned previously the prize for translated literature, albeit confined to European literature. Winner this year was Tommaso Pincio’s translation of Paul Murray’s Bee Sting.

Of the shortlisted ones, I am quite excited about the Turpeinen coming soon in English too Beasts of the Sea:

Jan Brokken, La scoperta dell’Olanda, tradotto da Claudia Cozzi (Iperborea).
Mircea Cărtărescu, Theodoros, tradotto da Bruno Mazzoni (Il Saggiatore).
Terézia Mora, La metà della vita, tradotto da Daria Biagi (Gramma Feltrinelli).
Iida Turpeinen, L’ultima sirena, tradotto da Nicola Rainò (Neri Pozza).

Shortlist of the Strega europeo:

'La notte nel cuore' by Nathacha Appanah, Einaudi - translated by Cinzia;

'La chiamata. Storia di una donna argentina' by Leila Guerriero, SUR - translated by Maria Nicola;

L'Entra il fantasma' by Isabella Hammad, Marsilio - translated by Maurizia Balmelli;

'In tempo reale' by Tonio Schachinger, Sellerio - translated by Francesca Gabelli;

'Estranea' by Yael van der Wouden, Garzanti - translated by Roberta Scarabell.

I read two and am curious about the Appanah (which won a lot of prizes in France) and the Guerriero.

Ruben wrote: "I read two and am curious about the Appanah (which won a lot of prizes in France) and the Guerriero."

I read the Guerriero last year and thought it was very good.

I don't think it's out in English yet, which is frustrating as there's a lot to discuss.

Safekeep's appeal eludes me - but a Strega Prize shortlist adds to a very impressive list of prize nods, so I'm the one missing something

Ruben wrote: "Shortlist of the Strega europeo:

'La notte nel cuore' by Nathacha Appanah, Einaudi - translated by Cinzia;

'La chiamata. Storia di una donna argentina' by Leila Guerriero, SUR - translated by M..."

The Appanah's will be published this fall by Linden press. The Guerriero's will be published by Pushkin press this fall as well

Michele Mari has won the Strega 2026 with I Convitati di Pietra (the Stone guests?). I loved his Verdigris and remember we did a buddy read I can't find back now.

The premise is quite enticing (from wikipedia): In 1975, thirty classmates from a Milanese high school meet one year after graduation.
They make a lifelong pact: every year, they will meet for dinner and each contribute money to a common fund.
The fund grows over decades through investment.
Only the last three survivors will inherit the entire fortune.

And the Strega europeo was won by Leila Guerriero

I'm excited to read the translation of the Mari, I also loved Verdigris. I saw Brian Robert Moore on social media say his translation of it will be forthcoming from And Other Stories eventually.

Speaking of the Strega, I just finished The Anniversary by Bajani which took the prize last year and thought it was really well done. I think I saw that you've also read it Ruben?