ROME – The influential Italian Strega literary prize 2015 has been awarded to Puglian Nicola Lagioia for his novel “La Ferocia”, published by Mondadori.

  The novel recounts the story of a family from the South of Italy, rocked by economic problems, and the amorous relationship between two of the siblings. Presenting his novel, Lagioia spoke of the book as “a return to nature, the laws of the jungle which we thought we had done away with, but reappear in these moments of crisis.”

  He joyfully received his prize, presented by Francesco Piccolo (winner of last year’s Strega),  and in an unexpected, romantic act, called his wife to the stage, dedicating both the prize and the book to her. The 41-year-old Bari writer won easily with an impressive 145 votes. Second place went to Mauro Covacich, with “La sposa”, with 89 votes, and third came Elena Ferrante with “Storia della bambina perduta”, with 59.

  However, behind the scenes lie several controversies that haunt the prestigious literary prize. Firstly, many complain about the dominance of the large publishing houses, with Mondadori and Einuadi winning over half of all the prizes ever given out -36 out of the 69 editions of the prize. The second most dominant publishing house is Rizzoli and Bompiani, winning 19. In total, these two publishing houses together have won three-quarters of the prizes – a veritable publishing duopoly. 

  Many were also disappointed with the win, with third-place winner Ferrante being a firm favourite for many beforehand. The organizers of the prize, expressed their appreciation of Ferrante, with the director of the Bellonci foundation clearly favouring her popular fiction work. He said that “if one doesn’t vote for a certain book, all those that don’t, are slaves to who knows which power.”

  Ferrante, the nom-de-plume of the mysterious author, was represented at the ceremony by a team of women, perhaps hinting at the gender of the anonymous author.