Nero su Bianco - Mino De Blasio Literary Award

A literary award in the heart of the Fortore

In the small village of San Marco dei Cavoti, perched at an altitude of approximately 695 meters in the upper Fortore valley, in the province of Benevento, literature takes center stage once a year. Since its inception in 2011, the «Nero su Bianco» award has transformed this Sannio town of a few thousand inhabitants into a reference point for writers, poets, and young students arriving from all over the peninsula. The competition is promoted by the «Provenza...Mino» Cultural Association in collaboration with the Municipality of San Marco dei Cavoti, in the Campania region.

Mino De Blasio, the poet of beauty

The award bears the name of Mino De Blasio, a multifaceted figure of the Sannio region: poet, writer, journalist, and literature professor, deeply connected to his hometown. It was he who imagined San Marco dei Cavoti as «a magic ring with a gem set upon it», an image that perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the event: starting from a small community to speak to everyone. Each edition is also a way to revisit his work, and it is not uncommon for the competition's theme to be inspired by one of his verses.

Competition categories

The call for entries is divided into three distinct categories, open to citizens of Italy and the European Union:

• Published works — books already published in Italian: fiction, non-fiction, mystery, and poetry;
• Free-theme poetry — compositions in Italian;
• Short stories — a section reserved for secondary school students, based on a theme assigned each year, with texts of up to five pages.

Participation in the short stories section is free, while an entry fee is required for poetry and published works. Entries are submitted via email or in hard copy to the organization's address, typically by the end of February.

The «Provenzalini», the symbol of the award

The recognition that defines «Nero su Bianco» is the «Provenzalino», crafted in gold, silver, or bronze depending on the ranking, and awarded to the top finishers in the poetry and published works sections, alongside a cash prize. These are joined by category awards for fiction, non-fiction, mystery, and poetry, the Critics' Award, and the Youth Jury Award, determined by student readers: a detail that speaks volumes about the event's educational vocation.

The awards ceremony

The most anticipated public moment is the awards ceremony, held on a Saturday in spring at the Municipal Conference Hall in Piazza Risorgimento or other institutional venues in the village, such as Palazzo Colarusso. Admission is free. This is not a simple plaque presentation: the event is hosted by literary critic and publisher Sandro Gros-Pietro, with interludes alternating between actor readings and musical performances. Each year, the event welcomes a guest of honor from the world of culture or singer-songwriting. The afternoon thus becomes a small festival of the written word, where winning authors present their books live to the public.

The village and the territory

Those who arrive for the award find a hillside village in the Benevento Sannio, with its historic center clustered around Piazza Risorgimento and a landscape of ridges and valleys overlooking the border with Puglia and Molise. The altitude provides fresh air even in spring, and the slow pace of the village is the ideal setting for an event dedicated to reading and listening. For those visiting inland Campania, «Nero su Bianco» is an extra opportunity to discover an area far from the most beaten tourist paths.

Why it is worth following

For authors, it is a serious and well-structured competition with a qualified jury and tangible prizes; for the public, it is a free afternoon of encounters with writers and poets; for local students, it is a gateway to creative writing. It is this combination of rigor, community, and hospitality that explains why «Nero su Bianco» has become one of the most solid cultural events in the province of Benevento.