Marasco's triumphant journey and the consistent popularity of the newly-released book
In the literary world, the Campiello Prize 2025 has made bold choices, shortlisting a diverse array of books that invite reflection, challenge the status quo, and defend human life. Among the notable contenders is Wanda Marasco's Di spalle a questo mondo, which has won the prestigious prize this year.
Marasco, a previous Costa Smeralda Prize winner, presents a traditionally narrative book that delves deep into the human condition. Her work offers a poignant reflection on the reasons and tragedies of History.
Another contender, Marco Belpoliti's Nord Nord, explores geographical borders as a symbol of an internal and external journey. According to Belpoliti, borders in Nord Nord are 'fickle, elastic, and arbitrary'. The novel presents an intense and dramatic deepening of today's dramas.
Fabio Stassi's Bebelplatz and Troncamacchioni by Alberto Prunetti are also on the shortlist. Stassi's narrative carries a strong historical and civic perspective, focusing on Nazi book burnings, while Prunetti's work is set in Maremma in the early 1920s and features anarchists, communists, socialists, and others opposing the growing totalitarianism.
Stassi quotes Heinrich Heine in his book, saying 'Where books are burned, people will also be burned in the end.' Defending books, according to Stassi, means defending human life, allowing freedom and existence. Ideologically, Bebelplatz connects to Primo Levi's book.
In Inverness, a book by Monica Pareschi, the title refers to the city in Scotland and the concept of 'winter' as a physical and mental season. There is a common undertone of life's wounds and offenses, of urgent and radical reckonings. Pareschi, born in Italy, draws inspiration from Thomas Hardy's perspective that 'if truth reveals an offense, it's better an offense revealed than a truth hidden'.
The Campiello Prize has a history of choosing innovative and surprising texts, and this year's shortlist continues that tradition. Each of these books offers a unique perspective on the human experience, inviting readers to reflect on the world around them and the importance of freedom of thought.
