This literary award is named after the Castle of Grinzane Cavour, a locality situated in the heart of the Langhe, amidst the hills that surround Alba in the province of Cuneo. The castle was the dwelling place of the great Italian statesman, Camillo Benso Count of Cavour who administered it between 1842 and 1849. It was built during the first half of the 13th century. The town of Alba is where Beppe Fenoglio was born.
Cesare Pavese was also born nearby, in Santo Stefano Belbo. It is therefore an ideal continuity with our past to connect this locality and Piedmont to an event such as the Premio Grinzane Cavour (The Grinzane Cavour Award), where literature and youth, history and culture, fertile land and wine all come together. The goal of the Award, which was instituted in 1982, is to expose young people to literature and encourage the reading of books that are not exclusively aimed at the curriculum.
Thus the idea to set up double panels of judges, that of the critics and that of the students was implemented.
The event, promoted by the Premio Grinzane Cavour Association and its President, Giuliano Soria, has grown over the years, also thanks to the commitment of its sponsors, one of which is Regione Piemonte, and through the collaboration of the Presidency of the Council of Ministries, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Cultural Resources. Almost 300 works are contending for the 1997 Award, which means a lot of work for the panel of critics, presided over by Lorenzo Mondo and made up of Giuseppe Bellini, Giuseppe Bevilacqua, Vincenzo Consolo, Maria Corti, Mario Guidotti, Sergio Perosa, Giuseppe Pontiggia, Gianni Rocca, Francesca Sanvitale, Sergio Zoppi and Giuliano Soria.
The ward or best Italian novel went to Paolo Di Stefano for Azzurro, troppo azzurro (Feltrinelli), Gina Lagorio for Il Bastardo (Rizzoli) and Marco Lodoli for Il Vento (Einaudi). The awards for foreign novels were given to the Israeli, David Grossman for Ci sono bambini a zigzag, published by Mondadori; Alvaro Mutis, Colombian author, for Abdul Bashur, sognatore di navi (Einaudi); and Bernhard Schlink, German writer, for his book A voce alta, published by Garzanti. The International Award 'A Life for Literature' was given to the French poet, Yves Bonnefoy. Daria Gelateria won the award for 'Non-fiction by an affirmed author' with her book Fughe dal Re Sole, published by Sellerio. The 'New Author' award for budding writers was given to Gianni Farinetti, Piedmontese, for Un delitto fatto in casa, published by Marsilio. Finally, the 'Translation' award, was won by Agostino Lombardo, recognized for the whole of works he has translated from English and in particular for his translations of the works of Shakespeare. Now the winning books will be sent, in the spirit of the Grinzane event, to the students of 17 schools, among which a high school in Buenos Aires, chosen in agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The votes of all these students will determine the two superwinners for the best Italian novel and the best foreign novel.
The final ceremony will be held in June at the Castle of Grinzane Cavour.
This literary award is named after the Castle of Grinzane Cavour, a locality situated in the heart of the Langhe, amidst the hills that surround Alba in the province of Cuneo. The castle was the dwelling place of the great Italian statesman, Camillo Benso Count of Cavour who administered it between 1842 and 1849. It was built during the first half of the 13th century. The town of Alba is where Beppe Fenoglio was born.