No exclusions, no withdrawals: Michele Mari will continue to compete for the Strega Prize . This decision, based on the rules and regulations, was made by the Bellonci Foundation, which awards the prize. After days of silence and embarrassment, faced with the flurry of speculation that emerged after the scandal erupted over the now-publicized rumors about the insults Mari, the first finalist, allegedly made toward Michela Murgia , the Foundation has issued its verdict.
The suggestion, circulating in the media, of excluding Mari from the eightieth edition of the Strega Prize "is not permitted by the rules." Nor do the rules themselves provide that the author, "once he or she has agreed to submit his or her work, can withdraw from the competition."
"We felt it was our duty to distance ourselves from those statements. But this has no bearing on either a judgment on the merits of the competing books or on the continuation of the competition," explains the Foundation, which now calls for an end to the controversy. "Writers express themselves essentially through their books, and we would like the word to return to literature at this time," it hopes.
According to the rules of the Strega Prize, which the Foundation manages with the Strega Alberti company, ownership of the prize belongs—it is explained—to the 460 Friends of Sunday, who nominate the nominated books and, together with the other members of the jury, select the winning work. Therefore, according to the rules, there are no exclusions. But above all, "even more importantly, because the Prize is a competition between works."
(Unioneonline)
