Five books. Five stories. Known closely through the stories of their authors themselves, together with the public who filled the bookshops and places of culture of Cosenza. Experienced during the presentation of the dozen of this year’s chosen ones, between April and May, with some of the most important writers on the contemporary Italian scene. Five of these stories made it to the end. Among these, the Jury will choose, in the next few days, the winner of the Sila Prize 2026, i.e. the fourteenth edition.
Here are the five books that will compete for the Prize, in strictly alphabetical order: «The Crocodile of Palermo» by Roberto Andò (The Ship of Theseus); «The summer that I killed my grandfather» by Giulia Lombezzi (Bollati Boringhieri; «In the dark I see it» by Anna Mallamo (Einaudi); «Plato a love story» by Matteo Nucci (Feltrinelli); «The girl from Savannah» by Romana Petri (Mondadori).
«Five different voices, five ways of describing the world – declared Enzo Paolini, president of the Sila Prize Foundation –. The Sila Prize continues its work of discovering and valorising quality literature, bringing the most important writers on the national scene into schools and bookshops. We are proudly the oldest literary prize in Southern Italy and continue to be a point of reference for the culture of our territory.”
«The Cinquina 2026 is the result of extraordinary work – added Gemma Cestari, director of the Award -. We met the authors, filled the bookshops and spoke with hundreds of readers. The Readers’ Committee, also made up of students from the Liceo Classico Telesio of Cosenza, read, discussed and chose. Now the final phase begins, the Jury will decide the winner of this XIV edition. And it will be a difficult choice, because they are all beautiful books.”
In the next few days the Jury will make its choice and the winner will be announced.