The award ceremony of the IV edition of the Iannas Literary Prize, named after the City of Quartu Sant’Elena, featured two authors from the Otago agency: Martino Giordano won the first prize in fiction with his novel Variazioni sul tema (Solferino), while Giovanni Follesa received the critics’ prize for his latest literary work, Un Ferragosto (Camena).
The prize, directed by Danilo Mallò and Massimo Granchi, was dedicated this year to the great island author Sergio Atzeni.
The jury of the fiction section, chaired by the writer Cristina Caboni, awarded the novel by Martino Giordano Variazioni sul tema, which marks the debut in fiction for the young Palermitan author, available in bookstores from the publishing house Solferino.
The book tells the story of Lidia, a young cellist from the conservatory of Palermo, balancing between a decisive audition and the awareness of living in a body she no longer feels is hers. Beside her is Dalila, the pianist girlfriend, with whom she dreams of Berlin and an international career. But when the possibility of embarking on a transition journey opens up, every other ambition seems to pale in the face of the desire for authenticity. Meanwhile, in Prague, Leo lives between motels and nightclubs, lost and alone, until the encounter with Selene, an enigmatic and salvific drag queen, forces him to confront his own ruin. Their lives, parallel and mirrored, intertwine in a novel that traverses two cities steeped in music and contradictions, staging the most difficult of battles: that against oneself.
The jury of the critics’ prize, composed of journalists Elisabetta Atzeni, Gaia Rau, Emanuela Ennas, Massimiliano Rais, and Isabella Murgia, awarded the recognition to Giovanni Follesa, author of the novel Un Ferragosto, Camena editions.
In Follesa’s work, the protagonist, Giorgio Sercinu, president of the Sardinia Region, goes through a deep political and personal crisis. To reconnect with ordinary people, he decides to disguise himself and sign up for BlaBlaCar, embarking on a Ferragosto trip with three strangers: a soldier-philosopher, a young artist, and an eccentric noblewoman. Crossing an authentic and contrasting island, Sercinu will discover the fragility of power and the complexity of his own identity.
