Italian
The award ceremony for the Mestre Literary Prize 2026 took place on May 29, 2026, in Mestre at the “Cesare De Michelis” Auditorium Museo M9, presented by Ilaria Marchiori. This prize is organized by Il Circolo Veneto, with the support of M9, and under the patronage of the City of Venice, the Metropolitan City of Venice, and the Veneto Region.
The winner of the youth section is Alice Testa (The Angle of Inclination), who preceded Sofia Shani Maguolo (The Weight of My Backpack) and Mario Zennaro (The Canvas House), with a second prize ex aequo. For the over 35 section, the first prize goes to Filippo Fogarin (The Red Backpack), followed by second place Marco Verducci (Light at Last) and third place Enrico Giorgiutti (The Blue Backpack).
The very young Alice Testa, in her short story talks about a shiny metal backpack, between superstition and purity, lies and judgments. The latter described as “the only anesthetic against the pain of existing.” Until a woman named Clara arrives who, overturning the paradigm, will change the narrative.
Filippo Fogarin, in his track narrates the volunteers of the Red Cross, and he does so with good reason, given the personal experiences he shares in the interview he gave us. And the SEUM backpack, reachable at 118, becomes its absolute protagonist, always hoisted on the shoulders. In a sort of narrative short film capable of traversing the polychromy of codes, green, yellow, red. An accessory that arrives without discounts, the offspring of a perfect democratic line, to uplift the fate of all knowledge, of diverse humanity. From attics to the soup kitchen, entering and exiting the lives of people. With its red color and its weight, 8kg when full and 1.5 when empty. Capable of probing the mysteries of life.
Photo Credit by Luca Rubbis
