The six finalists have been selected for the second edition of the Premio Maria Corti - Parole al centro, the award promoted by the Fondazione Maria Corti to recognise literary works and intellectual endeavours in which the centrality of language is their defining element. In the fiction category, the three finalists are Alessandra Carati with Atto di famiglia (Neri Pozza), Laura Nicchiarelli with Marea (66thand2nd), and Andreea Simionel with La ragazza d'aria (Rizzoli). In the non-fiction category, the contenders are Monica Berté with Petrarca, i libri, le carte (Carocci editore), Franco Brevini with In parole povere. I dialetti italiani tra memoria e futuro (Bollati Boringhieri), and Alessandro Parenti with Ricostruzioni. Origini e vicende di dieci parole italiane (Il Mulino). The selection was made by the Scientific Committee of the Fondazione Corti, chaired by Giorgio Panizza and composed of the board of directors of the Fondazione Maria Corti, together with Giuseppe Antonelli, president of the Centro Manoscritti at the University of Pavia, Elisabetta Colombo, Enrico Cotta Ramusino, and Christian Del Vento.

The award was established with the aim of commemorating and continuing the legacy of Maria Corti, a central figure in twentieth-century Italian culture, scholar, literary critic, writer, and founder of the Centro Manoscritti at the University of Pavia. The prize seeks to honour authors who are capable of treating language not merely as a means of expression, but as an element able to interpret, transform, and call reality into question. The initiative is organised in collaboration with the Centro Manoscritti at the University of Pavia, under the patronage of the University of Pavia and the Municipality of Pavia, and with the support of the Collegio Ghislieri. The winners of both categories will be announced by 30 September 2026 by the jury chaired by Giorgio Panizza and composed of Guenda Bernegger, Mariarosa Bricchi, Benedetta Centovalli, Gino Cervi, Paolo Di Stefano, Maria Antonietta Grignani, Helena Janeczek, Michele Lissia, Gaia Manzini, Alessandro Maranesi, Andrea Moro, Paola Moscardino, Piersandro Pallavicini, Giulia Raboni, and Alessandro Reali.

The award ceremony will take place on 13 November 2026 in the Aula Magna of the University of Pavia. As envisaged by the prize's founding project, the archives of the Centro Manoscritti will also be enriched by materials donated by the winning authors: manuscripts, notes, notebooks, and correspondence, destined to enhance one of the most important collections dedicated to contemporary Italian literature. The Fondazione Maria Corti, established by the University of Pavia in 2007, works to support the research, preservation, and enhancement of the cultural heritage held by the Centro Manoscritti, which was created by Maria Corti herself.

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