Vasto d'Autore Festival: Cantina Tollo awards writer Wanda Marasco

Neapolitan writer Wanda Marasco , author of Di spalle a questo mondo (Neri Pozza), which won her the 2025 Campiello Prize, has won the Cantina Tollo Prize at Vasto d'Autore , a literary festival that for five years has brought some of the most illustrious names in the national cultural scene to the Abruzzo city overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The awards ceremony was held in the Gardens of Palazzo D'Avalos on Thursday, July 2, the first evening of the event scheduled for July 2-5.

The Tollo cooperative group (Chieti) chose Marasco for her extraordinary ability to give voice to places, roots, and human frailties, transforming individual memory into a collective narrative . Through an intense, cultured narrative deeply rooted in the identity of Southern Italy, the author has restored the value of time, communities, and stories that risk being forgotten. This artistic journey, Cantina Tollo recognizes as aligned with its own vision : that of a company born from the land and its people, which continues to promote culture, belonging, and an awareness of the territory as a heritage to be preserved and passed down.

"With this award," explains Gianluca Orsini , President of Cantina Tollo, " we want to celebrate not only the author's literary value but also her ability to create profound connections between culture, identity, and memory , helping to keep alive the dialogue between the past and future of our communities. For us, wine is certainly an agricultural product, but it is also an expression capable of preserving traditions, landscapes, and knowledge. It is with this awareness that Cantina Tollo Group continues to support works like Marasco's and initiatives like the Vasto D'Autore Festival , thus contributing to the valorization of Abruzzo's heritage . This is also evidenced by our participation in the Macondo Festival delle Narrazioni in Francavilla al Mare, a widespread event that takes stories out of the usual places and reclaims urban spaces, and Pescasseroli Legge , a summer literary festival directed by the writer Dacia Maraini. The meetings—presentations, debates, and cultural exchanges with exceptional guests—are traditionally held in August in the heart of the Abruzzo town, capital of the National Park. d'Abruzzo. Let's not forget our commitment to promoting and enhancing the Tullum DOCG , one of the smallest Italian appellations, which encapsulates centuries of Abruzzo's history and identity in the grapes grown in Tollo and the wines born here. Like the pages of a book, every sip from our glasses tells those far away about unique places worth preserving.

Wanda Marasco was born in Naples, where she still lives. She received the Bagutta Opera Prima Award for her novel L'arciere d'infanzia (Manni 2003) and the Montale Prize for poetry for her collection Voce Poè (Campanotto 1997). Her works have been translated into English, Spanish, German, and Greek. Il genio dell'abbandono (Neri Pozza 2015) was shortlisted for the 2015 Strega Prize and staged by the Teatro Stabile di Napoli, directed by Claudio Di Palma. In 2017, Neri Pozza also published her novel La compagnia delle anime finte (The Company of Finte Souls ), which was a finalist for the Strega Prize.

Listed among the national festivals with media partners such as Avvenire , Rai Radio3 , and Tele Ambiente ; featured in press reviews in Repubblica , Sette Il Corriere, LEFT , Il Corriere del Mezzogiorno , and Il Libraio , and with the patronage of the Presidency of the Abruzzo Regional Council, Tgr Abruzzo, CSV Regione Abruzzo, and the International Book Fair, the Vasto D'Autore Festival was created in collaboration with the Municipality of Vasto and the Department of Culture and Tourism. The aim is to engage those who cultivate a passion for reading, listening, and exploring important and light-hearted topics, and who want to experience debate through talks, dialogues, and meetings with authors. The focus of the fifth edition is Dentro , an exploration of the human soul, empathy, and critical thinking through books, lectures , and journalism.