Cristina Caboni winner of the Vermentino Prize 2025
Literary prizes are always said, but not only the literary ones, the more successful the more they manage to involve the territory in which they organize themselves by creating a bond that lasts and strengthens over time. This is the case of VERO-LETTERARY NATIONAL AWARD which aims to tell this wine and the territory in which it is produced, Gallura, through narrative, and in a happy contamination with the identities and stories of other places with a plurality of voices, experiences, points of view, which, this year, has also climbed over Italy with the premium for foreign narrative. It is no coincidence that the theme was “intertwining of lives”.
The ninth edition of the prize, conceived and organized by Sassari Chamber of Commerce and promoted together with the Municipalities of Olbia and Castelnuovo Magra, It ended at the end of the week of “Benvenuto Vermentino”, with the victory of Cristina Caboni, Sardinian author published by Garzanti, who won the prize with the novel The girl without roots.
The motivation of the jury stressed that the work knows how to unite, with clarity and empathic intensity, a poignant and exciting family fresco, where abandonments, obstinate research and twists and turns intertwine with delicate notations on the production of wine that introduce and accompany each chapter. UNa narration capable of exciting and, at the same time, of telling the vine and wine as a metaphor for roots and identities and, through wine, the territory.
The award ceremony took place on 4 October in the Archaeological Museum of Olbia, conducted, for the third consecutive year, by the Neri Marcorè actor. The museum room was full of readers, publishers, students, books influencers, journalists and enthusiasts.
The boys of Gramsci High School of Olbiaguided by the actor Daniele Monachella And from their teachers, they gave voice to the pages of the finalist works with intense and hearing readings, while suggestive booktrailer – always made by the students – introduced each volume. This is the most eloquent sign of how the award does not reduce itself to the final ceremony only but winds through a path that lasts several months.
“Winning this important prize makes me happy and excited,” said Caboni, “I tell the strength of women with the metaphor of the vine: In the autumn, the bag, then reborn in the spring». The inspiration confessed Caboni, was born from a “deep bond with the earth, matured in the years in which I practiced beekeeping”, and by a documentary that spoke of a Sardinian wine that was born “from the waters” and rests on the sandy seabed of the sea.
Next to the main prize, the special mentions of the jury have been awarded, chaired by Maria Amelia Lai, to Enrico Beccastrini, Florentine doctor and writer, author of DOCG: of guaranteed criminal origin (Carmignani Editrice), a refined yellow that mixes mystery, passions and wine in the Tuscan hills and Fornasier Clizia, Venetian actress and writer, author of I wanted to dream far away (Harper Collins), the story of three women and their courage, narrated with a linguistic mix between Italian and Veneto and imbued with attachment to the earth.
The “Territory Award”, dedicated to the books that have best told the theme of territoriality by identifying local cultural aspects, setting the stories in very specific regional regional, citizens or rural contexts, was awarded ex aequo a Sunday clothes (Piemme) of Ludovica Elder, debut novel that intertwines the history of the Karst and Trieste with the lives of three young people overwhelmed by the fury of history with the advent of fascism e A thread of wind is enough (Fazi Editore) of Franco Faggiani, Milanese writer and journalist, who has been able to tell the indissoluble link between a peasant community and his land in the Oltrepò Pavese with sensitivity.
The novelty of this year was the opening to foreign narrative, which saw the victory of the volume Interces of lives – Praise of the stubbornness of the winemakers (Edizioni Ampelos) of the journalist and historic of French wine Graduate Gasparottowritten together with the Vignaiolo Alain Grailot disappeared in 2022. A book that celebrates the obstinacy and passion of those who dedicate life to the vine and wine.
Another significant novelty was the diffusion in 100 bookstores of Italy Finalist volumes, exhibited in a special desk display dedicated to the prize, to bring readers closer to this unique experience. An initiative made possible thanks to the important agreement with the Italian booksellers association (wings).
“The Vermentino Prize,” said the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Stefano Visconti“Remains a cardinal element not only for local development but also the opportunity to demonstrate how important culture can be and contribute to the growth of a territory. This year the ninth edition has demonstrated once more as much as the publishing houses and the authors take part in our event. It is no coincidence that the interest after nine years is always growing and the reputation of this prize is more than ever consolidated nationally and is ready to open up to foreign editorial realities. How it was shown this year. “
