Marcello Fois wins 64th Premio Campiello with novel L'immensa distrazione
The 66-year-old author secured 83 votes from the anonymous jury at Venice's Palazzo del Cinema on 3 October, edging out Alcide Pierantozzi to claim the literary prize.
Final ballot at Lido di Venezia
The 64th edition of the Premio Campiello concluded on 3 October at the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido of Venice. For the first time in the competition's history, the award ceremony was staged inside the venue's Sala Grande. The outcome was decided by the Jury of Three Hundred Anonymous Readers, whose identities remain undisclosed to protect the independence of the process. A total of 282 ballots were cast out of the 300 registered jury members. The contest, organised by Fondazione Il Campiello and Confindustria Veneto, awarded its traditional "vera da pozzo" trophy to 66-year-old Sardinian author Marcello Fois.
Vote tallies among the finalists
Fois secured first place with 83 votes for his novel "L'immensa distrazione", published by Giulio Einaudi Editore. Alcide Pierantozzi took second place with 80 votes for "Lo sbilico", also published by Einaudi, trailing the winner by a margin of three preferences. Elena Varvello followed in third place with 54 votes for "La vita sempre" from publisher Guanda. Valeria Parrella finished fourth after receiving 33 votes for "La ragazzina" from Feltrinelli. Ermanno Cavazzoni completed the shortlist in fifth place with 32 votes for "Storia di un'amicizia", published by Quodlibet.
- Marcello Fois
- 83 votes
- Alcide Pierantozzi
- 80 votes
- Elena Varvello
- 54 votes
- Valeria Parrella
- 33 votes
- Ermanno Cavazzoni
- 32 votes
Speeches and tributes on stage
Accepting the award on stage, Fois addressed the demands of literary work before dedicating the prize to his friend and fellow Sardinian author Michela Murgia, who died in 2023.
Writing is a very difficult job. There is a big difference between writers and people who publish. There is so much gratitude for this world. I want to thank a person who is no longer here, but for me she is, who was a beautiful woman, anything but spiteful, very resilient, her name was Michela Murgia.
Fois also noted that he was born 200 metres from the home of Grazia Deledda, the 1926 literature laureate who remains the only Italian woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. He observed that 2026 marks the centenary of Deledda's Nobel award, while recalling her 1919 candidacy in national elections, and expressed regret that her work was not included in that year's state graduation exam tracks. Raffaele Boscaini, president of Fondazione Il Campiello and Confindustria Veneto, addressed the gathering to describe culture as an invisible infrastructure of enterprise.
Collateral awards and novel synopsis
The ceremony was hosted by Alessio Viola and Arianna Porcelli Safonov, featuring musical performances by Margherita Vicario and readings by Matteo Caccia. The Campiello Giovani award went to Matteo Ghisleri for the story "Ricalcolo percorso", while Nadeesha Uyangoda won the Opera Prima prize for "Acqua sporca". Domenico Starnone received the Special Fondazione Il Campiello Award, and the Campiello Junior prizes went to Rosella Postorino and Daniele Mencarelli. Set across the twentieth century, Fois's winning novel tracks the Manfredini family dynasty from a small slaughterhouse to an industrial empire. The narrative centres on patriarch Ettore Manfredini, who reflects on family secrets, wartime hardship, and the consequences of racial laws immediately following his death on 21 February 2017.
