THEthe Premio Strega 2026 officially opens its doors, with the choice of the first block of sixteen candidatesproposed by the Friends of Sunday, the historic group of four hundred intellectuals who make up the electoral body. The chosen authors show a heterogeneous group that mixes great masters of the pen with younger and more experimental voices. Born in 1946, the prestigious recognition is today a well-oiled mechanism that continues to prove itself one of the most anticipated events and discussed the national literary scene.
Strega Prize 2026, the first 16 nominated books
The path towards victory on 8 July in Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome has just begun: after the deadline for proposals expires on 2 March, we will wait for the announcement of the “dozen”, the twelve semi-finalists, on 1 April, before arriving at the voting of the “five” of finalists on 3 June at the Roman Theater in Benevento. But let’s go to the names: among the first titles stand out authors who need no introduction.
Michele Mari, with THE stone guests (Einaudi), takes the reader back into his world of cultured obsessions and impeccable style. Next to him we find Ermanno Cavazzonian author who in the past has also enchanted cinema with his surreal stories, which he presents Story of a friendship (Quodlibet).
The first list of Friends of Sunday has been revealed: the sixteen candidate books (premiostrega.it)
From politics to mental health: the faces of the new narrative
There is no lack of experience Lorenzo Pavolini with Thousand (Marsilio), an author who knows how to move between the folds of memory and civil history. But, the list of the first sixteen books is a mosaic of genres and reflections. We move on from political history with Cosimo Damiano Damato, author of No grace. Gramsci and Pertini, a story of imprisonment and resistance (Rai books), to the autobiographical story of Fabio Macaluso, I wanted a lemon tea. My life as a bipolar (Marsilio), who courageously addresses the topic of mental health.
Strega Prize 2026, the other protagonists: a literary journey between past and future
The rest of the selection offers an extraordinary variety of atmospheres and languages. Nadeesha Uyangoda with Dirty water (Einaudi) explores the suspended identities between Italy and Sri Lanka, while Piera Ventre in Stray star (Publisher’s note) takes us back to the Naples of the Belle Époque dealing with the arrival of Halley’s comet. The province is also the protagonist: the one from Abruzzo Vito di Battista in Where comets fall (Feltrinelli) and that of the Marche region Massimo Gezzi in Adriatic (Gramma feltrinelli).
Identities, places and ties
Then we find the Sicilian magical realism of Orazio Labbate in Chianafera (Publisher’s note) and the intense family dynamics described by Graziella Bonansea in You who don’t speak (Vanda editions), Mara Fortuna in The canary (Les flâneurs editions) e Pucci Romano no The solution (Love editions). The picture is completed by the original investigation by Roberto Ippolito in Wilde as if (Sem), the story between Berlin and living with dogs by Irene Salvatori in Not 101 yet (Marcos y marcos) and the investigation into the contemporary anxieties of Sebastiano Martini no The noise of the world (Voland).
The next stages of the competition
The race has just begun. But starting from this first overview, the timetable is tight: The total proposals will expire on March 2ndWhile the “dozen” will be revealed on April 1stor the twelve books that will officially compete for the place in the final. June 3rdin the evocative setting of the Roman Theater of Benevento, the “five” of finalists will be chosento arrive then to the grand finale on July 8th in Rome, in the historic Piazza del Campidoglio. We therefore welcome these first sixteen titles, the gateway to an edition that promises to be full of twists and turns.
