With the new edition only days away, revisiting the Premio Strega means retracing one of the most significant moments in Italy’s cultural life. Founded in 1947 by Maria Bellonci and the Amici della Domenica, supported by the Alberti brothers, the prize established itself from the outset as a vital space for exchange and engagement in post-war Italy.
In the words Maria Bellonci chose to announce the first edition, the idea emerges clearly of an award meant to carry both literary and civic weight. The prize also embodies a specific historical climate: that of a country emerging from dictatorship and war, rediscovering participation as a concrete form of public life. It is for this reason that, over time, the Premio Strega has become far more than a publishing contest, evolving into a lasting observatory on Italian narrative and its power to reflect the nation’s transformations.
Its roll call of winners includes names that have shaped the history of Italian literature: Cesare Pavese (La bella estate, 1950), Alberto Moravia (I racconti, 1952), Giorgio Bassani (Cinque storie ferraresi, 1956), Elsa Morante (L’isola di Arturo, 1957), Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (Il Gattopardo, 1959), Natalia Ginzburg (Lessico famigliare, 1963), Primo Levi (La chiave a stella, 1979), Umberto Eco (Il nome della rosa, 1981), and Dacia Maraini (Buio, 1999).
Within this horizon, Grafica Veneta’s connection to the prize finds its place, grounded in the centrality of the book as a cultural object and the result of a complex supply chain—a symbol of Italian industry and of our own commitment to excellence. Over the years, this bond has intertwined with titles that have entered the Strega Prize journey, volumes printed by Grafica Veneta among winners and finalists. Among the books that carry our imprint are L’anniversario by Andrea Bajani, winner of the 2025 edition; M. Il figlio del secolo by Antonio Scurati, winner in 2019; and Il fuoco invisibile by Daniele Rielli, a finalist in 2024.
For a company that works with books every day, following the Premio Strega with close attention means recognizing the symbolic value of what a book represents when it reaches its readers. On one side lies the prize’s own history—its authors, juries, debates, and literary memory; on the other, the daily labor that turns a text into a volume ready for the market, for bookshop shelves, and for time. It is in this way that the Premio Strega continues to speak not only to literature, but to those who concretely shepherd a book into being.a.
