Now that Fall is here and the days are shorter there's an invitation in the air to get homey and read a good book. Reading or listening to an audio book can be an easy, restful way to spend an afternoon or evening, book in hand, relaxing.
My book shelf tends to be full of books about Italy! No surprise there but like the country itself there are many layers to discover. The food, wine, art and design create an ongoing narrative that continues to hold my attention and with a literary appetite that rivals the workhouse hunger of an Oliver Twist I want more agreeing with Leonardo da Vinci that "the noblest pleasure of all is the joy of understanding". As CIO (Chief Inspirational Officer) of CosituttiMarketPlace I’ve drawn inspiration from many sources. You can rummage through our book shelf for an eclectic mix of fiction and non-fiction, memoirs, cook books and travel journals. Stories that introduce you to the Italian lifestyle. Books about food, wine, art and design that will give you a true insight into the culture, traditions, landscape and history of a country that lingers in everyone’s imagination.
So when I discovered the Strega Prize, a literary award for a novel in Italian translation by a European author who has received national recognition in their home country, I was wide-eyed. The Strega Prize is considered to be Italy's most prestigious literary prize. Founded in 1947 by the owner of Strega liqueur some liken it to the Academy Awards. Voters of the award number around 700 including the Amici della Domenica (the Friends of Sunday - a discussion group that began in 1944), voters from abroad, voters from schools, universities and reading circles of the Libraries of Rome and readers from the professions and entrepreneurship.
The award is named after Guido Alberti, owner of the Strega liquer company and a founding member of the Amici della Domenica. The company was was begun in the late1800's by Giuseppe Alberti, a wine merchant from Benevento (known as the city of witches) whose knowledge of herbs and spices were added to the liqueur that eventually became Liquore Strega (witch in Italian).
Donatella Di Pietrantonio won 2024 Strega Prize with L'Età Fragile, a novel about the relationship between a mother and her 20-year-old daughter who are forced to live together during the Covid-19 lockdown whose lives are linked by a series of tragic events in their local community from the past. While not all books are available in English, many winning titles have been translated and published by in the United States.
Brew a cup of Caffè corretto with a drizzle of Strega and enjoy one of the following Strega Award books.
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