Romanian writer Mircea Cărtărescu honored with International Premio Mondello

Mircea Cărtărescu has been honored with the International Premio Mondello, which in the past has been awarded to writers such as Milan Kundera and Thomas Bernhard, JM Coetzee and Don DeLillo, Doris Lessing and Marilynne Robinson, announced Nicola Lagioia, the director of the Turin Book Fair.

“The International Premio Mondello has a history of great prestige. Over the years it has been assigned to such writers as Milan Kundera and Thomas Bernhard, JM Coetzee and Don DeLillo, Doris Lessing and Marilynne Robinson. The characteristic of the award is that every year there is a monocratic judge to award it. I was chosen as monocratic judge for the 2024 edition. I am honored. So I decided to assign the International Mondello to Mircea Cartarescu for the way in which, through his works, he has renewed the codes of the contemporary novel, making it again a magnificent presence from the future. The awarding ceremony will be in May at Salone Internazionale del Libro. A public dialogue between Mircea and I will follow. We’ll be waiting for you,” Lagioia wrote on Facebook.

According to News.ro agency, Mircea Cărtărescu, a poet, novelist, essayist, literary critic, and journalist, has published numerous volumes since 1980, which have been translated into over 20 languages. His books have been awarded by the Romanian Academy, the Writers’ Union of Romania and the Republic of Moldova, the Ministry of Culture, ASPRO, the Writers’ Association of Bucharest, and the Publishers’ Association of Romania.

The novel “Nostalgia” received the “Giuseppe Acerbi” Literary Award in 2005, Castel Goffredo, Italy. The author has received, among others, the International Literature Prize from Vilenica (2011), the International Literature Prize “Haus der Kulturen der Welt”, Berlin (2012), the International Literature Prize, Berlin (2012), the Spycher – Literaturpreis Leuk, Switzerland (2013), the Grand Prize of the International Poetry Festival in Novi Sad (2013), the Tormenta en un vaso Prize, Spain (2014), the Euskadi de Plata Prize, San Sebastian (2014), the book prize for European understanding of the city of Leipzig (2015); the State Prize of Austria for European literature, 2015, the Leteo Prize, Spain (2017) and the Premio Formentor de las Letras (2018). In 2021 he won the Prozart Prize in North Macedonia. In 2022, he was named the winner of the FIL Prize for Literature in Romance Languages at the Guadalajara International Book Fair.

Premio Modello

The “Premio Mondello” is an international literary award given annually in Italy. It is named after the Mondello district of Palermo, where the award was first established in 1975. The prize is awarded to writers who have made significant contributions to literature, and it has gained recognition for honoring both Italian and international authors. The award covers various genres, including novels, poetry, essays, and translations. Winning the Premio Mondello is considered prestigious within the literary community, and it often brings attention to the works and authors honored with the prize.

Photo courtesy of Mircea Cartarescu Facebook page

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