Scerbanenco@Lignano Award

The awards ceremony is the most anticipated moment for the many contestants who participated in the Award named after Giorgio Scerbanenco, the master of Italian crime fiction.

The public will also have the opportunity to meet the winner of this twelfth edition in person.

The Jury—composed of Cecilia Scerbanenco (President), Franco Forte (Editorial Director of Il Giallo Mondadori), Luca Crovi (literary critic and writer), Oscar d’Agostino (Head of the Culture Sector of Messaggero Veneto), Piergiorgio Nicolazzini (literary agent), Alberto Pezzotta (IULM University professor), and Nicoletta Talon (librarian)—has selected the final shortlist of winners.

From the stories submitted from all over Italy, the following finalists have been chosen:

• “Di una volta” by Raffaele Serafini;

• “L’odore del mare” by Elena Vesnaver;

• “Il riscatto” by Paolo Botti.

The reading of the winning stories is entrusted to actor Massimo Somaglino, whose voice enriches the Lignano ceremony with emotion.

The three stories are published online on Messaggero Veneto.

The first-place winner, who will be announced during the ceremony, will also receive a cash prize and the publication of their text within the prestigious Il Giallo Mondadori series, as well as in the print edition of Messaggero Veneto.

The event is organized by the Municipal Library of Lignano Sabbiadoro as part of the "Lignano Noir Festival", supported by the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia.

The event pays tribute to the writer Giorgio Scerbanenco, a recognized master of Italian detective and noir fiction who, after discovering Lignano as a tourist and becoming captivated by the shifting hues of the sea, the pine forest, and the modernity of the city taking shape, chose it as his place of residence and a source of inspiration for his novels.

Festival Partners: Messaggero Veneto, Il Giallo Mondadori, Lignano Sabbiadoro Gestioni.