The 79 novels competing for the 2026 Strega Prize

The expanded group of fiction books competing for the 80th edition of the Strega Prize has been outlined. There are 79 novels in total proposed by the Amici della Domenica, the historic core of the jury, who had until 12pm on Monday 2 February to nominate the works for the most prestigious Italian literary prize.

The next step will see the reduction of the titles to 12: the task, as usual, will fall to the Steering Committee composed of Pietro Abate, Giuseppe D’Avino, Valeria Della Valle, Alberto Foschini, Paolo Giordano, Dacia Maraini, Melania G. Mazzucco, Gabriele Pedullà, Stefano Petrocchi, Marino Sinibaldi and Giovanni Solimine. The dozen will be officially announced on Wednesday 1 April, with a press conference scheduled at the Rome Chamber of Commerce, in the Hall of the Temple of Vibia Sabina and Hadrian.

The 79 novels of the 2026 Strega Prize

1. Andrea Alba, Kafka’s shadow (Arkadia), proposed by Claudio Strinati
2. Giovanna Albi, The house of cardsBy Felice Edizioni, proposed by Francesca Pansa
3. Fabio Andina, The inside of the clouds (Rubbettino), proposed by Gianpiero Gamaleri
4. Maria Attanasio, The reverse rose (Sellerio), proposed by Ottavia Piccolo
5. Ilaria Bernardini, Beloved (HarperCollins), proposed by Simonetta Sciandivasci
6. Lavinia Bianca, Potential life (Gramma Feltrinelli), proposed by Fulvio Abbate
7. Graziella Bonansea, You who don’t speakVanda Edizioni, proposed by Paolo Ferruzzi
8. Aldo Boraschi, Diamond (Altre Voci editions), proposed by Saverio Simonelli
9. Nicola Bottiglieri, Reciting «Infinity» at Cape Horn (Bertoni Editore), proposed by Mariù Safier
10. Davide Bregola, Lessons from the ruins (read, write, live) (Avagliano), proposed by Emanuele Trevi
11. Edith Bruck, The German friend (The ship of Theseus), proposed by Aldo Cazzullo
12. Enrico Bruschi, Reverse reflexes. In the mind of Mariù Pascoli (Maschietto Editore), proposed by Maria Concetta Mattei
13. Valerio Callieri, AS3 (Fandango Libri), proposed by Paolo Di Paolo
14. Ilaria Camilletti, Ilaria in the jungleAccent, proposed by Fabio Geda
15. Marcello Cantoni, Wind in your face (La Corte Editore), proposed by Ignazio R. Marino
16. Enzo Fileno Carabba, Noah’s ark (Ponte alle Grazie), proposed by Antonio Riccardi
17. Ermanno Cavazzoni, Story of a friendshipQuodlibet, proposed by Massimo Raffaeli
18. Gaja Cenciarelli, The revolutionary and the teacherMarsilio, proposed by Serena Dandini
19. Teresa Ciabatti, Donnaregina (Mondadori), proposed by Roberto Saviano
20. Leonardo Colombati, There will be no more night (Mondadori), proposed by Alessandro Piperno
21. Mauro Covacich, Lina and the stone (The ship of Theseus), proposed by Edoardo Nesi
22. Cosimo Damiano Damato, No grace. Gramsci and Pertini, a story of imprisonment and resistance(Rai Libri), proposed by Raffaele Nigro
23. Bruno Damini, The first to catch fire was Totò. The Great Story of monsù Peppino wandering chef (Minerva Edizioni), proposed by Roberto Barbolini
24. Mario De Quarto, Free in the city of the popes (Marlin), proposed by Rosa Maria Grillo
25. Paola Dell’Erba, Penultimate wish (Graus Edizioni), proposed by Maria Cristina Donnarumma
26. Isabella Delle Monache, The companion (Serradifalco Editore), proposed by Lidia Ravera
27. Vito Di Battista, Where comets fallFeltrinelli, proposed by Maria Ida Gaeta
28. Baldissera Di Mauro, UgoElliot, proposed by Filippo La Porta
29. Marcello Fois, The immense distraction (Einaudi), proposed by Helena Janeczek
30. Francesco Forlani, The Spanish friend (Exòrma), proposed by Giulio Marcon
31. Mara Fortuna, CanariaLes Flâneurs Edizioni, proposed by Antonella Cilento
32. Saverio Gangemi, Calùra (Rubbettino), proposed by Massimo Onofri
33. Nicola Gardini, Daddy, Mondadori, proposed by Renata Colorni
34. Massimo Gezzi, AdriaticGramma Feltrinelli, proposed by Laura Pugno
35. Vittorio Giacopini, Every other time is Peace (Nutriments), proposed by Alberto Rollo
36. Tommaso Giagni, The factory and the cherry treesPonte alle Grazie, proposed by Gioacchino De Chirico
37. Roberto Ippolito, Wilde as ifSEM, proposed by Elisabetta Mondello
38. Orazio Labbate, ChianaferaNN Editore, proposed by Alberto Casadei
39. Elisabetta Liguori, The stubborn sonPiemme, proposed by Francesco Caringella
40. Simone Lisi, The interruptions. Tentative novel about my mother (effequ), proposed by Gabriele Ametrano
41. Giulia Lombezzi, The summer I killed my grandfatherBollati Boringhieri, proposed by Alessandra Tedesco
42. Fabio Macaluso, I wanted a lemon tea. My life as a bipolarMarsilio, proposed by Daniele Rielli
43. Roberto Maggiani, A man in ArgentinaThe branch and the leaf editions, proposed by Franco Buffoni
44. Anna Mallamo, I can see it in the dark (Einaudi), proposed by Marina Valensise
45. Michele Mari, The stone guestsEinaudi, proposed by Vittorio Lingiardi
46. Sebastiano Martini, The noise of the worldVoland, proposed by Dario Buzzolan
47. Laura Marzi, Shooting stars (Mondadori), proposed by Paolo Mieli
48. Massimo Maugeri, What we do with love (The ship of Theseus), proposed by Giorgio Nisini
49. Mota, The Reverse Light (Wojtek), proposed by Silvio Perrella
50. Matteo Nucci, Plato. A love storyFeltrinelli, proposed by Giancarlo De Cataldo
51. Laura Pariani, Primama (The ship of Theseus), proposed by Francesca Serafini
52. Lorenzo Pavolini, ThousandMarsilio, proposed by Giorgio van Straten
53. Francesco Pecoraro, The end of the world (Ponte alle Grazie), proposed by Gianluigi Simonetti
54. Alcide Pierantozzi, I twist it (Einaudi), proposed by Donatella Di Pietrantonio
55. Bianca Pitzorno, The sleepwalker (Bompiani), proposed by Roberta Mazzanti
56. Antiniska Pozzi, You’ll die tomorrow anyway (HarperCollins), proposed by Lia Levi
57. Christian Raimo, The invention of color (The ship of Theseus), proposed by Luciana Castellina
58. Nicola Ravera Rafele, Cloudburst (HarperCollins), proposed by Sandra Petrignani
59. Cecilia Rita, MantisNN Editore, proposed by Ludovica Jaus
60. Pucci Romano, The solutionLove Edizioni, proposed by Riccardo Cavallero
61. Elena Rui, Camus’ widowsL’Orma, proposed by Lisa Ginzburg
62. Mariù Safier, The cue rack (FUIS editions), proposed by Massimiliano Kornmüller
63. Piero Salabè, Damn me (The ship of Theseus), proposed by Claudia Durastanti
64. Irene Salvatori, Not 101 yetMarcos y Marcos, proposed by Daniele Mencarelli
65. Lodovica San Guedoro, The closed garden (Effigies), proposed by Marcello Rotili
66. Vanni Santoni, The sleepwalking detectiveMondadori, proposed by Marco Cassini
67. Eduardo Savarese, A little light (Alter Ego), proposed by Simona Cives
68. Gianluigi Schiavon, Speak to me death. The secret book of the Archiginnasio (Giraldi Editore), proposed by Simonetta Bartolini
69. Francesca Scotti, The season of empty houses (Hacca), proposed by Maria Teresa Carbone
70. Marialaura Simeone, A big fire. Bianca Garufi (Les Flâneurs Edizioni), proposed by Giuseppe Lupo
71. Carola Susani, The god of the people (minimum fax), proposed by Valeria Parrella
72. Lucia Tancredi, Ersilia and the othersPonte alle Grazie, proposed by Loredana Lipperini
73. Federico Tavola, Frontier grammarSolferino, proposed by Maria Rosa Cutrufelli
74. Marcello F. Turno, A Love SupremeAlpes Italia, proposed by Laura Massacra
75. Nadeesha Uyangoda, Dirty waterEinaudi, proposed by Gaia Manzini
76. Piera Ventre, Stray starNN Editore, proposed by Romana Petri
77. Marco Vichi, Child’s eyesGuanda, proposed by Laura Bosio
78. Giuliana Vitali, Born in dirty water (Perrone), proposed by Marco Debenedetti
79. Anna Voltaggio, The saint of others (Neri Pozza), proposed by Diego De Silva.