Alex Cousseau, Alessandro Barbaglia and Davide Morosinotto are the winners of the 6th edition of the Premio Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi children’s narrative – in either the original Italian or in translation. This year, publishers submitted 31 titles for the 6+ age category, 49 for the 8+ category, and 54 for the 11+ category.
The 6+ category (6-7 years) was won by Alex Cousseau - with 8 out of 16 votes - for Murdo. Il libro dei sogni impossibili (L’ippocampo); the 8+ category (8-10 years) by Alessandro Barbaglia - with 14 out of 33 votes - for Scacco matto tra le stelle (Mondadori); and the 11+ category (11-13 years) by Davide Morosinotto - with 263 out of 500 votes - for his La più grande (Rizzoli).
Over two thousand young readers from more than 140 schools, reading groups, and libraries in Italy and abroad (Madrid, Munich, Paris, Vienna and Saint.Germain-en-Laye) chose the winners for their particular age group.
A special translation prize, offered by BolognaFiere, was also assigned to Anna Patrucco Becchi, the winner of the 2019 edition, and Simone Barillari (for the translation of Alex Cousseau’s Murdo. Il libro dei sogni impossibili (L’’ippocampo).
This year, the Scientific Committee - chaired by Giovanni Solimine and made up of Laura Bellacicco, Angelo Piero Cappello, Flavia Cristiano, Fabio Geda, Grazia Gotti, Martino Negri, and Elena Pasoli – introduced a prize for the best debut book. The finalists were:
- Annet Schaap, Lucilla (La Nuova Frontiera Junior)
- Giorgia Simoncelli, Il disegnatore di nuvole (Edizioni Piuma)
- Maddalena Vaglio Tanet, Il cavolo di Troia e altri miti sbagliati (Rizzoli)
The winner was Annet Schaap, whose Lucilla (La Nuova Frontiera Junior) was translated by Anna Becchi.
The Premio Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi is sponsored by the Maria and Goffredo Bellonci Foundation and Strega Alberti Benevento, organizers of the Premio Strega, in partnership with Centro per il libro e la lettura and Bologna Fiere-Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and the support of BPER Banca e IBS.it La Feltrinelli.
