Silvana La Spina wins the sixth edition of the literary award City of Erice

Last Updated: July 6, 2024

Silvana La Spina vince la sesta edizione del premio letterario Città di Erice

Silvana La Spina is the winner of the sixth edition of the City of Erice Literary Award, conceived, promoted, and organized by the association Vivere Erice and sponsored by the Municipality. The Catania-based writer ranked first with 91.50 votes for “L’uomo di zolfo” (Bompiani). In second place is Aurora Tamigio with “Il cognome delle donne” (Feltrinelli) with 81 votes, and in third place is Gaspare Grammatico with “Una questione di equilibrio” (Mondadori) totaling 74.50 votes.

Twenty-four “strong” readers evaluated the eight books in competition, published in 2024, recommended by a Committee of writers, journalists, independent Sicilian bookstores, and industry experts. The three finalist books were voted on by the jury composed of Daria Galateria, a writer and francophile, playwright and music historian Guido Barbieri, retired magistrate Dino Petralia, journalist and writer Concetto Prestifilippo, and Mattia Corrente, winner of the 2023 edition of the City of Erice Literary Award.

According to the Award regulations, the competing books deal with themes or characters related to Sicily, highlighting its many expressions and contradictions that significantly reflect the identity of the Island. The City of Erice Literary Award will be presented on Sunday, August 25, 2024, at 6 pm, at the Gebel Hamed Theater in Erice, in the presence of the winner Mayor Daniela Toscano, Municipal Councilor for Culture Rossella Cosentino, and a representation of the jury.

“Additionally, we are very pleased that this year the literary prize went to the Catania-based writer Silvana La Spina, an unmistakable and unique voice in the national literary scene. ‘L’uomo di zolfo – il romanzo di Luigi Pirandello’ perfectly embodies the emblem of Sicily. The impressive work on the greatest Italian writer of the twentieth century takes us behind the scenes of his life, delivering to us, in the form of a novel, a surprising biography, at times scorching but also capable of freeing the man from the encrustations of the icon and presenting him to readers in his fullest sensitivity.”

The Literary Prize is endorsed by the Municipality of Erice and is held in collaboration with the Alberghiero I & V. Florio Institute, the Network of Literary Festivals of the Province-Rete Biblio tp, Libreria del Corso, OstiNati, Ascensori Cavataio, Elettricittà, Rotary of Trapani Erice, Fodale Fiori.

The winners:
– Silvana La Spina, born in Veneto to a Sicilian father, lives between Milan and Catania and Sicily is the basis of almost all of her novels. Among her latest works: “La bambina pericolosa” (2008), “Un cadavere eccellente” (2011), “La continentale” (2014), “L’uomo che veniva da Messina” (2015). She won the Chiara Prize in 1993 with the novel “Scirocco.” Her latest publication is “L’ombra dei Beati Paoli” (2024).
– Ninni Ravazza, from Trapani, a doctor in Political Sciences, diver, sailor, journalist, and writer. Among his numerous literary works dedicated to the sea: “Sirene di Sicilia” (finalist for the Casino Literary Prize in Sanremo 2011), “L’occhio in cima all’albero. Misteri e leggende del mare di Sicilia” (finalist for the Carlo Marincovich Sea Literature Prize 2023). A film adaptation of his book “Diario di tonnara” directed by Giovanni Zoppeddu was selected for the official selection at the International Rome Film Festival 2018. He lives in the countryside and adopts abandoned dogs and cats.