The winner of the third edition of the Tomasi di Lampedusa literary award is Trieste author Claudio Magris for his latest novel Alla cieca (Blindly), published in Italy by Garzanti.

The announcement was made at the Turin Book Fair during a crowded press conference. A panel of judges headed by Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi selected Magris for the coveted award. José Rallo of Donnafugata, which since 2003—year of the prize’s founding—has been supporting it, was also on hand to speak to journalists.

“Our support for the award,” said José Rallo, “is a significant part of our Enterprise, Culture, Nature project. Sicily is now a place where public and private are getting together, supplementing one another and cooperating in creating new opportunities for the island’s development and growth. Culture can be privileged terrain for this. With our help, too, in just three years the literary prize has won visibility and prestige that gives us high hopes for the future.

It is a prize that brings media attention to Sicily and promotes a vision of tolerance and dialogue among the peoples of the Mediterranean basin. The names of former prize-winners, entered in the competition’s album, are examples of this: Israel’s Abraham Yehoshua, Morocco’s Tahar Ben Jelloun and now an Italian-frontier writer, Claudio Magris of Trieste. These are big names in contemporary literature bringing a message of tolerance and peace.”

The award ceremony will be held the first week in August in the lands of the Gattopardo (The Leopard), at Santa Margherita di Belice and at the Donnafugata wine estate at Contessa Entellina. The chosen time is most enchanting, during the nighttime grape harvest.

Public Relations:

Baldo M. Palermo [email protected] tel. 0039 0923 7242267

Laura Ellwanger [email protected] te. 0039 0923 724258