Zerilli-Marimò/City of Rome Prize for Italian Fiction

The eighth Zerilli-Marimò/City of Rome Prize for Italian Fiction was awarded to Milena Agus for her novel Mal di pietre. The Prize was presented to Ms. Agus by Baroness Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimò at Casa Italiana on Tuesday, December 9 2008. Ms. Parrella and finalist authors Andrej Longo and Mario Calabresi read from their books.

The Winner
Milena Agus was born in Genova and lives in Cagliari where she teaches Italian and history in a high school. Her first novel Mentre dorme il pescecane (Nottetempo 2005), was reprinted twice in only a few months, but it was Mal di pietre that made her known to a national and international audience.

The Book
Mal di pietre tells the story of a woman, her marriage, and her extramarital affair with il Reduce, who she met in a health spa which both of them frequented to cure their kidney stones (Mal di pietre). The two initially identify with one another through their mutually felt pain and this experience leads them to fall in love.