Rome-born Bajani, who debuted in 2005 with Cordiali saluti (Warm Greetings) and first gained prominence with his 2007 novel Se consideri le colpe (If You Weigh the Guilt), had been the bookmakers’ favourite for Italy’s premier literary award.
L’anniversario received 194 votes, well ahead of Elisabetta Rasy’s Perduto è questo mare, a story about a dreamer father and his friend, the celebrated writer Raffaele La Capria, which garnered 133 votes.
“I have been publishing books for twenty-two years,” said Bajani. “I’m grateful to everyone who believed in me: the readers, the publishers.”
“This year marks the 60th anniversary of Feltrinelli, the publisher who believed in me,” added a visibly moved Bajani, sipping from a bottle of Strega.
“Literature exists to contradict the official version of things,” continued the author, who wore a minimalist light linen suit suitable for the sweltering heat, even at midnight in the Italian capital.
Already a winner of the Premio Strega Giovani 2025 and a finalist for both the Premio Strega and the Campiello Prize in 2021 with Il libro delle case (The Book of Houses), Bajani explores, in L’anniversario, the deadly intrigues of an oppressive family through a blend of novel and autofiction.
“On one hand, it’s the story of a domestic hell; on the other, it’s the perspective of someone who thinks, ‘I can tell my own version of all this,’” he explained.
“The idea of escape is always entwined with the idea of guilt,” Bajani noted.
The name Strega, meaning “witch” in Italian, comes from the prize’s sponsors, the producers of the famous yellow liqueur from Benevento.
This year’s edition was overshadowed by a dispute with Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, who claimed he hadn’t been sent copies of the competing books and was practically not invited. Organisers responded that he had chosen to stay away in order to attend an event in Germany instead.
The government announced on Thursday that it is considering moving one of Italy’s literary highlights from its long-time home at Rome’s Villa Giulia to the historic Cinecittà film studios.
ANSA
