Premio Pieve Saverio Tutino

The Premio Pieve Saverio Tutino

The Premio Pieve Saverio Tutino is Italy's most important competition dedicated to the autobiographical writings of ordinary people. Every year, at the end of September, the village of Pieve Santo Stefano, in the province of Arezzo, in the heart of the Tuscan Valtiberina, transforms for a few days into a living theatre of national memory. Diaries, love letters, correspondence, war journals, emigration stories, and family memoirs arriving from every corner of the country are read, shared, and awarded in front of an audience.

The City of the Diary

Pieve Santo Stefano is known as the "City of the Diary": since 1984, four yellow signs placed at the cardinal points of the town have welcomed visitors with this title. It was here that year that journalist and writer Saverio Tutino founded the National Diary Archive, a public archive that collects and preserves the private writings of Italians. Housed today in the town hall and shared with the public in the Small Museum of the Diary, located in the 16th-century Palazzo Pretorio, these thousands of memories restore the great history of Italy through the intimate voices of those who lived it.

How the competition works

Throughout the year, a reading committee examines the texts submitted to the competition and selects a group of finalists. A national jury, composed of writers, historians, and scholars, ultimately chooses the winning diary, which is then transcribed and published. During the festival days, the finalists are presented to the public through dramatic readings, meetings, and dialogues that bring the town's squares and venues to life.

The 2026 edition

The 42nd edition of the Premio Pieve Saverio Tutino is scheduled from September 17 to 20, 2026. The chosen theme is "1945-2025: The Return of Memory", marking the eightieth anniversary of the Liberation on April 25, 1945, and reflecting on the value of historical memory in the face of today's challenges. The national jury for this edition has already been appointed; the detailed program featuring meetings, readings, and finalists will be published soon on the official website of the event.

An event of collective memory

More than just a literary prize, the Premio Pieve is a civic and cultural ritual that weaves together literature, history, and popular tradition. The awarded autobiographical writings recount 20th-century and contemporary Italy from the bottom up, through the daily lives of workers, farmers, emigrants, soldiers, and parents. For a few days, Pieve Santo Stefano and the Tuscan Valtiberina become a place where the private stories of ordinary people find an audience and public dignity.