Emanuele Trevi's Due Vite Is The Best Italian Novel 2021

As Italy continues conquering the world (or at least Europe) with its recent victories at Eurovision and European Football Championship, it's time to introduce you to the best Italian literature, as last week the Premio Strega, the most prestiguous literary award in Italy, has announced its winner for 2021.

Emanuele Trevi's Due vite (Two Lives) received 187 votes and celebrated the victory, leaving behind Donatella Di Pietrantonio's Borgo Sud with 135 votes, Edith Bruck's Il Pane Perduto with 123 votes, Giulia Caminito's L’acqua del lago non è mai dolce with 78 votes, and Andrea Bajani's Il libro delle case with 66 votes.

Due vite is a book like no other. It is a story of three friends. Emanuele Trevi tells about Rocco Carbone and Pia Pera, two writers who unfortunately died being too young. He tells of defeats and euphorias, of quarrels and unforgettable gestures, of Roman nights; and he talks about the pain of losing them. This book is the way to keep them close, even if the passing of time tries to push them away. Memory, reflection, digressions and distraction - are all characteristics of Trevi's writing, and of his ability to draw the reader into a time and a place that we didn't think concerned us so much. Due vite is a book capable of transforming intimacy and melancholy into literature, making them universal and bringing them closer to everyone's lives.

Emanuele Trevi is a well-known Italian writer and a literary critic. Among his books are the following: I cani del nulla, Senza verso. Un’estate a Roma, Il libro della gioia perpetua, Qualcosa di scritto, Il popolo di legno and Sogni e favole.

Last year the Premio Strega was handed to a wonderfully sincere novel by Sandro Veronese Il colibri (The Hummingbird).