Erica Donzella with “Non Offense” (Kalòs) is the winner of the 25th edition of the “Elio Vittorini” national literary prize. The writer from Catania prevailed over Rosa Matteucci with “Cartagloria” (Adelphi) and Nadeesha Uyangoda with “Acqua dirty” (Einaudi), convincing the commission, chaired by professor Antonio Di Grado, with her love story which, as stated in the motivation «has nothing to do with the easy romanticism that usually characterizes the subject, but which is instead as harsh and tragic as the environment in which it develops and which it does not tolerate, in its misery and in its ignorance, what appears irregular such as homosexuality.” Donzella uses a “direct and explicit” language, capable of “also expressing the strength of the instinctual and sexual component of love without giving up the delicacy capable of expressing it”.
Last night at the ceremony at the Antico Mercato in Ortigia, presented by the secretary of the Prize Aldo Mantineo, the prize for the First Work section was also awarded to Anna Mallamo, author of the book “Col dark me la vedo io” (Einaudi). A debut novel, powerful and full of surprises, set in Reggio Calabria in the early 1980s. «From the very first lines, Anna Mallamo gets to the heart of an evocative language, corroborating the grip on reality in dialect, and distilling ways of saying, phrases and adverbs to pierce the veil of thoughts, and penetrate the silences, the reticence, the omissions of her characters» we read in the motivation.
«I would like to dedicate this award to the Mediterranean matriarchy – said the writer from Strict when accepting the award -. Because, unlike the “Mediterranean patriarchy”, which does not exist – it is just the attempt to present something too horrendous as acceptable, even part of tradition and identity (if I were the word identity I would sue a lot of politicians for defamation) – it is a real thing, which weaves through many of our worlds. And it is something of solidarity, based on care and words, not on supremacy and subjugation. On the strength of bonds, not on violence. And yes, this world of ours, torn apart by itself, woven together by dark algorithms while believing itself to be free, which looks up only out of fear of drones, which raises all the walls we hoped to have knocked down in the last century, would desperately need it.”
The Arnaldo Lombardi Prize for independent publishing, dedicated to the memory of one of the “fathers” of the Vittorini Prize, went instead to the Rubbettino publishing house. The Calabrian publishing house, founded in 1972, has been able to attract the attention of the public as «a laudable independent publishing enterprise, ideologically free, aimed at the valorisation and dissemination of humanistic and scientific thought, with particular attention to literary and non-fiction production».
