Livio Gambarini, writer and founder of the Rotte Narrative writing school, strongly wanted this Arcimago Award. And his motivation is clear: it is necessary to facilitate the expression of talent, and also launch the careers, of young fantasy writing talents in Italy. And also contribute to the diffusion of stories of this kind, “so that they can win the hearts of the public”, says Gambarini. Who adds: «If we want Italian fantasy to be perceived as an important genre, we must give it the opportunity to present itself as such. A literary prize with characteristics of impartiality and widespread on a national scale is a necessary starting point».
From these assumptions and ideas the Arcimago Prize was born, which saw its inaugural edition – the zero one, so to speak – last year, in 2023. A way to test whether the requirements were refined to the right point and therefore reserved exclusively for students of the Narrative Routes courses. Small but successful initiative, also because the The prize is attractive both from an economic point of view (free and with cash prizes) and because it offers the opportunity to directly meet the publishing operators who will be indispensable to the success of the novels: i.e. specialized editors and publishers.
The finalists of the zero edition of the Arcimago Prize
Test passed and then the final phase of the first official edition, open to all, is underway in this final of 2024. And success is in the numbers with almost 500 authors, who with their stories and pages have marked a historic moment for Italian fantasy, making the Award already a point of reference for the sector. The competition notice and all the necessary information can be found on the website of Rotte Narrative, Gambarini’s fantasy writing school.
«This award represents a turning point for Italian fantasy», underlines the coordinator Matteo Lorenzini. He adds: «The enthusiasm and quality of the texts received demonstrate how ripe the genre is for recognition of this level».
Meanwhile, if the registrations for the first edition of the award have just closed, Gambarini has already started the second edition, because «if we want Italian fantasy to be perceived as an important genre”, he says, “we must give it the opportunity to present itself as such. A literary prize with these characteristics is a necessary starting point».
Meanwhile, the list of finalist manuscripts of the first edition that will compete for the final prize has been published. At the moment the names of the participants remain anonymous as the evaluations are still ongoing. Here are the titles of the main works:
• Chronicles of the Flowering Sword
• The Witch’s pact
• Dandelia’s ring
• The ballad of the wrong chosen one
• The Five Day Curse
• Onirica vol.1 – The girl without dreams
• This dark voice of mine
• Theophany
• You who shine in the dark night
• An Elegy on the Serpent Oceans
The prize paid to the winner will be 2000 euros, and will also have the opportunity to receive the support of an editor selected by the Rotte Narrative school, who will also provide promotional and strategic support to disseminate the book. The 2nd and 3rd place will be paid 1000 euros, while the 4th to 10th finalists will receive 500. Added to this is the training support for the prize winners, offered by Amazon KDP.
The final moment of this first edition of the award will be on November 16th at the San Fedele Auditorium in Milan, which will host not only the ceremony – at 9.00 pm -, but an entire day dedicated to fantasy thanks to the presence of authoritative voices from the national fantasy literary scene and an entire room where six professional editors will offer their time and skills free of charge to analyze ideas and manuscript drafts, providing timely feedback and suggestions to young writers. A unique opportunity, where emerging authors will be able to meet and interact with the main exponents of Italian publishing.
