The writer’s comment on his novel “Noi” (published by Bompiani): “It is not just a family saga, it crosses the history of our entire country”
Paolo Di Stefano with the novel We (Bompiani) won the 27th edition of Literary Prize «Alassio Centolibri – An Author for Europe». The proclamation took place last Saturday in Piazza Partigiani in Alassio (Savona) in the presence of the five finalists: in addition to Di Stefano, Silvia Avallone with A friendship (Rizzoli), Lisa Ginzburg with How to Pace (Ponte alle Grazie), Paolo Milone with The art of connecting people (Einaudi) and Ilaria Tuti with Rock flower (Longanesi). To lead the evening the actor Neri Marcorè, new artistic director of the festival and of the award.
We convinced the jury, chaired by the linguist Gian Luigi Beccaria and composed, peculiarity of the award, by a series of Italianists who work in major universities abroad. «Di Stefano’s novel was awarded – observed Beccaria – as it masterfully represents not only a family saga with the strong and authoritarian figure of the grandfather father master at the center, but it is also a powerful portrait of Italy. Narrated with a particular style that distinguishes Di Stefano both as a writer and as a journalist ».
Envoy and columnist of the «Corriere», the winner Di Stefano commented: «I understand this Noi of the title as an inclusive, open We. Not just a We from a family saga but a We that embraces, through the story of a family (mine), the Italian history from the tragedy of the landing in Sicily, to the bankruptcy industrialization of the South, to the emigration towards a very unwelcoming North, to the family in the balance of our years ». And he added: “More than in the first person singular, the novel is written in the first person plural, precisely, because for me it is a polyphonic novel where my self (” filthy “like every self, according to a famous definition by Gadda) is one of the many who speak in the book. Indeed, that We for me also extends to coexistence and communion between the living and the dead, in their continuous dialogue (one of these is my dialogue with Claudio, my little brother who died at 5, when I was 10): a dialogue that he never left me. ‘
Di Stefano also has signed a tile which will be placed on the famous wall in the space reserved for the winners of “Alassio Centolibri – An Author for Europe”.
Finally, the prize does not end with the final evening but continues throughout the year; the finalists by next spring they will return to Alassio for a literary meeting, to present the new novel or for an in-depth study on the finalist one.
September 5, 2021 (change September 5, 2021 | 20:33)
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