Accademia Romanesca Admission Competition

A competition to join the Academy of Roman dialect

The Accademia Romanesca Admission Competition is not just another literary prize; it is the gateway to an association that has spent years researching and studying the dialect and culture of the Roman people. Winners do not take home a cash prize, but something much rarer: the right to sit among the Academy's poets, receiving an annual membership card and an admission diploma during a public ceremony in the Capital. The competition takes place in the Municipality of Rome, in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Lazio, and is open to anyone who writes in the Roman dialect, regardless of where they live.

How to participate

The rules are intentionally simple. Each author may submit a maximum of two unpublished poems in the Roman dialect, each no longer than thirty lines. Texts must be sent via email to the Academy's address as a Word attachment, including the author's full name, phone number, and a statement of authenticity and ownership. Those who are or have previously been members of the Accademia Romanesca are excluded: the competition is designed for those who are not yet members.

• Entry fee: none, participation is completely free
• Number of texts: maximum 2 unpublished poems per author
• Length: no more than 30 lines per poem
• Language: Roman dialect, mandatory
• Submission: via email, with a Word attachment

The «Youth» category

Alongside the general category, the Academy has established a special section for young people, open to middle and high school students under the age of eighteen. Poems written collectively by a class or group are also accepted—a format that has recently seen middle school students awarded for expressing their emotions in the Roman dialect. This is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the initiative: the dialect ceases to be a subject for scholars and returns to being a language that young people can use to express their own thoughts.

The prizes

The Academy provides the top six finishers with a package designed more to integrate them into the cultural scene than to provide financial gain:

• a free annual membership card for the Accademia Romanesca, with all member benefits
• the anthology volume «I Quaderni dell'Accademia»
• the book «A nò, come se scrive?», a grammar of contemporary Roman dialect
• the admission diploma to the Accademia Romanesca
• the MIC card of the Municipality of Rome, which grants free access to the city's civic museums

The jury is composed of scholars and poets from the Academy, and its members are only revealed at the time of the awards ceremony. In some editions, the jury has chosen not to rank the winners, admitting the authors of the best poems as equals: a decision that perfectly captures the spirit of the initiative, which is more about selection than competition.

The awards ceremony

The ceremony is held in a public hall in Rome, and in recent editions, it has been hosted at the «La Vaccheria» exhibition space in Rome's Ninth Municipality, an 18th-century rural structure repurposed as a cultural venue. The ceremony is a small community event featuring live readings of the winning poems, the presentation of diplomas, and a meeting between Academy members and the new inductees. Winners must collect their prizes in person; no proxies are allowed. You come in person, you read your poem, and you join the Academy.

Why it matters

The Roman dialect is one of the most well-known in Italy, but its popular success risks reducing it to a caricature. The Accademia Romanesca works in the opposite direction through studies, publications, and lessons on the grammar and correct writing of the dialect. The admission competition is the tool through which this work is renewed every year, seeking new voices and bringing them into a tradition that spans from Belli and Trilussa to contemporary authors. For those visiting or living in Rome, attending the ceremony is an unusual and authentic way to encounter the spoken city, far from the tourist circuits.