Strega Prize, Minister Giuli absent from the final: "Perhaps from Sunday Friend I have become an enemy"

The Minister of Culture to Adnkronos: "The evening will be beautiful even without me and Geppi Cucciari. Maybe a little less fun". Petrocchi: "Friendly relations with Minister Giuli, no exclusions"

The Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, will not be among those present at the final ceremony of the Strega Prize , scheduled for Thursday, July 3 at the Ninfeo di Villa Giulia in Rome. The reason? A two-day institutional trip to Germany, July 3 and 4, where he will meet the German Minister of Culture.

"I was invited to the awards ceremony - Giuli explained to Adnkronos who asked him about it - but unlike in the past, I have not received any signal from the Bellonci Foundation, nor a nominated book, after my appointment as Minister of Culture. Perhaps as minister, from 'Friend of Sunday', I have become 'enemy of Sunday' ". "Therefore I will not be present - Giuli added - I have booked a trip to Germany for a meeting with the German Minister of Culture".

Minister Giuli, however, plays it down with irony: " The evening of the Strega Prize will be beautiful all the same. Maybe a little less fun, without Geppi Cucciari and Alessandro Giuli ."

Giuli also explains the reason for his absence from the final ceremony of the Strega Prize on the sidelines of question time in the Chamber: ''I understand that the 'Friends of Sunday' receive books related to the Strega Prize, that they read them, as I did when I was considered one, and then give their vote. I note the fact that I am invited to the evening of the Strega Prize but I have not received any books. It is curious that one must go to the evening of the Strega Prize having not received the books for which the evening of the Strega Prize is organized. Hence the joke 'it is clear that they consider me an 'enemy of Sunday'. I therefore dedicate myself to the search for European funds for culture by going to speak with my German counterpart in Germany''.

''I don't have a juror's title, I obviously don't have any title anymore, but you should ask the Bellonci Foundation about that - says Giuli - Then maybe I'll buy the books for the pleasure of reading them. I have the pleasure of reading''.

Petrocchi: "Friendly relations with Minister Giuli, no exclusions"

Stefano Petrocchi, director of the Goffredo and Maria Bellonci Foundation, which organizes the Strega Prize, comments: "Relations with the minister have always been friendly, we greeted each other cordially at the last Turin Book Fair. We did not send him the prize books because we ask publishers to send them only to the Strega jury, from which he resigned the same day as his appointment to the Ministry of Culture. In his letter he wrote: 'Taking up this office does not allow me to continue to carry out my duties as a member of the Amici della domenica - Premio Strega group, awarded to me in my capacity as president of the Maxxi Foundation. I hereby resign from this body with immediate effect'. Naturally, he was among the guests at tomorrow's final evening at Villa Giulia, as he was previously at the Premio Strega Poesia on October 9, and we will be happy to welcome him back next year for our eightieth edition".

"If the minister wanted to return to be part of the jury of the award, we would be equally honored," Petrocchi added in the reply sent to Adnkronos.