Elsa Morante Award, XXXIX edition, forty years after the death of the great writer

Everything is ready for the XXXIX edition of the Elsa Morante Award, which remembers the great writer on the fortieth anniversary of her death. On May 13th at 10 am, in fact, two rooms in the Città della Scienza, in Naples, will open their doors to host a little more than a thousand students and the reading public, who will be lucky enough to experience first-hand the emotions of the cultural and entertainment event that 40,000 will follow in live streaming on the social pages of the Award. 11 winners in the various fields of creation and culture, accompanied by the heads of the most important publishing houses, 10 jurors led by the most beloved of Italian writers, Dacia Maraini. About fifty accredited journalists, coming from every city. All this makes the Elsa Morante Award the most prestigious cultural institution in Southern Italy, first also in terms of response in the national media among those born in Campania. But let's go into the details of the names. The kermesse is presented by the actor Alessandro Incerto and the journalist Tiuna Notarbartolo, who is also the director of the event.

The jury chaired by Dacia Maraini is composed of: Marco Cerbo, Enzo Colimoro, Lino Guanciale, David Morante, Antonio Parlati, Alfredo Rapetti Mogol, Fiorenza Sarzanini, Teresa Triscari, and Tiuna Notarbartolo herself. The winner of the Fiction section of the Elsa Morante Award 2025 is writer and director Roberto Andò with his “Il coccolo di Palermo” published by La nave di Teseo. The Elsa Morante Ragazzi Award will be assigned to Alessandro D'Avenia with “Resisti cuore” (Mondadori), “Elsa Morante Ragazzi Award – Knowledge”; to Donatella Di Pietrantonio with “Lucciole, squaletti e un po' di pastina” (Salani) “Elsa Morante Ragazzi Award – Fiction” and Francesca Mannocchi “On my land” (De Agostini) “Elsa Morante Ragazzi Award – History”. Nicola Campiotti, with his “Tutto tra noi è infinito” (Sperling & Kupfer) wins the Opera Prima section; Barbara Baraldi, screenwriter of Dylan Dog with her “Jenny” (Bonelli), wins the Graphic Novel section; Daniela De Crescenzo and Tommaso Montanino with “Il Narcos” (Paper first) win the Elsa Morante Nisida Award, chosen together with the boys of the juvenile prison. Three Elsa Morante Ragazzi Musica Awards are awarded, to LDA, Luca D'Alessio , as an R&B singer, to his R&B producer Noya and to Anastasio for his authorial music.

Also in the room were many excellent names from the host city, starting with Riccardo Villari , President of the City of Science, and, among others, General Francesco Bianco , the President of the Campania Aerospace District Luigi Carrino , the engineer Francesco Floro Flores , the director of the Regional Culture Office Giorgio Izzillo, Giulia and Guido Giannini, Gianluigi and Salvatore Scognamiglio, Vincenzo Borrelli, Vincenzo Cappello, Giuseppe Ascione, Anna Zolfo from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the director of the IPM of Nisida Gianluca Guida, and many directors of Campanian educational institutes. The event, organized by the Elsa Morante Prize Cultural Association, is coordinated by Iki Notarbartolo; Gilda Notarbartolo directs the communication, Umberto Amicucci takes care of the graphic design, while the press office is entrusted to Lisa Terranova and is realized with the Patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in partnership with: the Campania Region, Sire – Ricevimenti d'autore, Ninni-Scognamiglio Diagnostic Center, Arec, Ascione Coralli, Officine Grafiche F Giannini & Figli, Accademia Medeaterranea, Il Confronto, Fnism.