La ragazzina by Valeria Parrella

(Feltrinelli) has won the Mandrarossa Prize, which concluded with an evening at the Temple of Hera in Selinunte. The evening began with greetings from Giuseppe Bursi, President of Cantine Mandrarossa, Concita De Gregorio, President of the Prize, and Claudia Origoni, Director and founder of the Prize. The event was hosted by journalist Melania Petriello, who led a talk with the participation of the finalists in the Fiction category: Monica Acito, Dario Ferreri and Valeria Parrella. Also taking part were Nadia Terranova, head of the technical jury, and Alessandro Accurso Tagano, a bookseller from Agrigento.

The Premio Opera Prima — paired with the Calamossa label from Cantina Mandrarossa — went to Il miracolo by Lorenza Sabatino (Guanda). Concita De Gregorio, President, explained the reasons behind the award, describing it as "a magical book, born from the pen of a formidable writer, Valeria Parrella. La ragazzina is a novel about history and the future. Parrella's Joan of Arc is not afraid to follow her convictions. She pays the consequences, but she transforms places, people, history. We need novels like Parrella's, in times that are once again difficult for the country. In days when securitarianism, fear and hatred seem to cast new shadows, we need stories of inspiration, courage and hope."

"I am a classicist," declared Valeria Parrella after the award ceremony, "and for this reason I am delighted to have won a Prize whose final evening was held at the Temple of Hera — a place that is also substance. It reminds me of the work I have been carrying out for months with the novel honoured here: letting the exemplary stories of the past tell us how to face the present and our own inner stirrings. Someone has walked these paths before us, and today it is wonderful to retrace them with the certainty of the direction they lead us toward, and the one from which to flee."

"With conviction and enthusiasm shared by the Presidency and the jury," declared Claudia Origoni, Founder and Director of the Prize, "this year the Mandrarossa Prize-winning book is La ragazzina by Valeria Parrella. Although it deals with a 'warrior' theme, it speaks to us of peace and of how differently war is seen through the eyes of a woman compared to those of a man. In recounting the epic of Joan of Arc, it brings us back to adolescence, to that age when everything is possible if sustained by a lofty idea, if there is a determination like that of 'a girl who decides where to go and goes there.' It has been an edition of quality books and writers who, on the contemporary scene, are charting a course in their careers. I therefore thank the booksellers, who are the true protagonists here and holders of a necessary power that ensures the integrity and editorial direction of a prize that looks to the future, continuing to keep attention alive on independent realities, which are often the true cultural engines of our communities."

"With the ceremony on 25 July at the archaeological park of Selinunte," declared Giuseppe Bursi, President of Cantina Settesoli, "the second edition of the Mandrarossa Literary Prize comes to a close — an event that confirms itself as a fundamental cultural cornerstone for our territory and for the entire national literary landscape, thanks to the work of independent bookshops."

In closing, following the award ceremony, Concita De Gregorio and Melania Petriello spoke to the audience of the Mandrarossa Prize,

"Mother". A conversation, No blame. True stories, vital impulses, anecdotes, field research; emotional confrontation, a place of sisterhood, a public gathering of private feelings

(production Ottantunocento).

The technical jury that assisted the Presidency is composed of

Franco Cardini, Neria de Giovanni, Eleonora Lombardo, Carlo

Alberto Moretti, Christian Rocca and Nadia Terranova.

During the ceremony Stefania Auci intervened as founder

of the "Gli Olmi" movement, receiving from Claudia Origoni an elm tree and the title of "Mamma de Gli Olmi". Massimiliano Conti, Mayor of Niscemi, also took part.

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