Milena Palminteri wins the 73rd edition of the Bancarella Prize

It was Milena Palminteri, with her debut novel 'Come l'arancio amaro' (Bompiani), who won the 73rd edition of the Bancarella Prize, one of Italy's most prestigious literary awards. With 204 votes, the Sicilian author won the majority of the preferences of the jury composed of independent Italian booksellers, taking home the prize's symbolic sculpture: the Saint John of God by the artist Umberto Piombino.

A clear victory, celebrated on stage in Pontremoli (Massa Carrara) in an evening that featured the six finalists of the 2025 edition. "Come l'arancio amaro" is a story of women, sacrifice and rebirth, set in a harsh and bright Sicily of the 1920s. The protagonist is Sabedda, a courageous mother forced to give up her daughter Carlotta in order to guarantee her a free and dignified future.

"I am incredulous and grateful," said Palminteri during her acceptance speech, "This book was born out of a desire matured in old age: to learn to read deeply, and then to learn to write. I dedicate this prize to my niece, and to all women who, after every winter, come back to bloom in all their splendour'.

Milena Palminteri, Palermo-born and Salerno-born by adoption, worked for decades as a conservator in notarial archives. It was among the dusty papers of an old file that she found the spark for her first story: a baby carried in a basket, a mother accused of buying it. From that episode came a novel that has sold over 200,000 copies in Italy and is currently being translated into 14 languages. The international launch will begin with publication in France on 20 August. In the same setting in Pontremoli, on Saturday 19 July, the 62nd Bancarella Sport Prize was awarded to former national team goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon for his autobiography 'Cadere, rialzarsi, cadere, rialzarsi' (Mondadori), written with Mario Desiati, which received 193 votes. In second place Paolo Piras, author of "Vertical - The novel of Gigi Riva" (66thand2nd), in third place Claudio Colombo with "Giù la testa" (Hoepli), in fourth place "La mia vita controvento" by Reinhold Messner (Corbaccio), in fifth place "Senna le verità" (Edizioni Minerva) by Franco Nugnes and in sixth place "Gioco sporco - I misteri dello sport" (Gallucci Editore) by Nicola Calathopoulos