The event is organised by Fondazione Bottari Lattes.
Julia Deck (France), Mathias Enard (France), Andrew Miller (United Kingdom), Andrew Porter (USA), and Clara Usón (Spain) are the finalists of the 16th edition.
The 2026 Lattes Grinzane Special Prize has been awarded to Amitav Ghosh, who will deliver a lectio magistralis in Alba on October 17 during the final ceremony.
400 students from across Italy will choose the winning novel from the most international shortlist in the history of the Prize.
The sixteenth edition of the Lattes Grinzane Prize comes alive with the announcement of the five finalist authors: Julia Deck with Ann d’Inghilterra (Adelphi, translated by Yasmina Melaouah), Mathias Enard with Disertare (e/o, translated by Yasmina Melaouah), Andrew Miller with La terra d’inverno (NNE, translated by Ada Arduini), Andrew Porter with La vita immaginata (Feltrinelli, translated by Ada Arduini), and Clara Usón with Le belve (Sellerio, translated by Silvia Sichel).
Established in memory of Mario Lattes and organized by the Bottari Lattes Foundation, the Prize brings together Italian and international authors and is dedicated to the best works of fiction published in the past year.
This year’s Lattes Grinzane Special Prize goes to Amitav Ghosh, a world-renowned author widely considered the greatest living Indian writer.
The finalist novels and the Special Prize were selected by the Technical Jury, chaired by Loredana Lipperini (writer, journalist, radio host), and composed of Marco Balzano (writer, poet, scholar of Italian literature), Valter Boggione (Professor of Italian Literature at the University of Turin), Anna Dolfi (Professor of Italian Literature at the Universities of Trento and Florence), Giuseppe Langella (Professor of Modern and Contemporary Italian Literature at the Catholic University and Director of the Research Center for Literature and Culture of United Italy), Alessandro Mari (writer, editor), Luca Mastrantonio (journalist, literary critic), and Francesca Sforza (journalist).
Now the decision passes to the 400 students who make up the School Juries, tasked with reading the finalist works and selecting this year’s winner. The participating students come from all over Italy and represent 25 high schools, including the Lycée René Char in Avignon, France.
The next event of the Lattes Grinzane Prize is scheduled for Saturday, October 17: in the morning, students will take part in a meeting with the five finalists at the Castle of Grinzane Cavour, where they will be able to engage with the authors and ask questions. In the afternoon, at the Teatro Sociale “Busca” in Alba, Amitav Ghosh will deliver a lectio magistralis on a topic of his choice and will receive the award, after which the winner of the sixteenth edition of the Prize will be announced. The event will be livestreamed on the Bottari Lattes Foundation website and social media channels.
The collaboration between the Prize and the “Cervo in Blu d’inchiostro” festival will continue in 2026. On Sunday, October 18, the day after the final ceremony, an event will take place at the Oratory of Santa Caterina in Cervo with one of the finalists. The event will be hosted by Walter Scavello, English teacher at the Cassini High School in Sanremo.
The event will be held in Italian.
