«In this insecure time, in which pain, cruelty, and anxiety about a future that is difficult to imagine prevails over everything – says Beatrice Monti – I think reading is one of the safest refuges. This is also why the list of writers proposed for our Premio Gregor von Rezzori – Città di Firenze , now in its 16th edition, brings us the voices of many countries and opens up other horizons. The voices are very diverse, but they are united by great originality and literary quality. 

I think this will give the reader moments of comfort and real pleasure.

Happy reading!».

This year too, the Premio was held partly online and partly in person, a way of once again reaffirming the value of literature.

The Festival opened with a Lectio Magistralis by writer Paolo Cognetti at the Cenacolo dell’Opera di Santa Croce. 

Also renewed is the collaboration with Porto delle Storie, an itinerant non-profit writing school founded in 2010 with the aim of creating spaces of freedom for adolescents and young people, spaces in which they can seek and build their own voice without fear of judgement or grades. At the Porto, participants write and create stories using multiple languages. This year, thanks to the collaboration with CiviCA Biblioteca di Calenzanothe documentary Atipico was made, a journey into gender differences in the LGBT community between Bologna, Milan and Turin. The documentary will be presented by Chiara Tagliaferri author of Strega comanda colore, just published by Mondadori.

Videos of the interviews with the finalists are shown on a Rai Cultura Special.