Street Poetry Award

An award that makes poetry a shared heritage

The Street Poetry Award is a national competition for unpublished poetry that, since 1998, has been collecting and awarding poetic voices from all over Italy and beyond. Conceived by the poet and publisher Alessandro Seri, the award is curated by the cultural association Licenze Poetiche, based in Macerata, and represents a benchmark event in the literary landscape of the Marche region and the nation. Over twenty-eight editions, it has involved over 5,755 authors from all Italian regions and numerous foreign countries, from Europe to the Middle East.

Word and image: the canvas collection

The most recognizable element of the award is the dialogue between poetry and visual arts. Starting in 2006, ten artists are invited each year to interpret the poems of the ten finalists on canvas: each artwork, which integrates the poetic text within it, thus becomes the visual translation of a verse. The canvases created over the years have given rise to a collection of over 140 works, exhibited from time to time in the locations hosting the final ceremony.

Loro Piceno, host of the XXVIII edition

In 2026, the Municipality of Loro Piceno, a small village in the province of Macerata in the Marche region, hosted the final stage of the award for the first time. The ceremony took place at the packed Teatro Comunale, while in the foyer the ten canvases inspired by the finalist texts were exhibited. The choice of Loro Piceno confirms the award's traveling nature, bringing contemporary poetry to the villages of the territory.

How the award works

• A technical jury of critics, poets, and professors selects the ten finalists and the winners.
• A popular jury, composed of dozens of readers designated by Licenze Poetiche, the host Municipality, and the municipal library, expresses its own verdict.
• The finalist texts are entrusted to the artists for the creation of the canvases.
• The award ceremony combines the reading of the verses, the presentation of awards, and the exhibition of the paintings.

For lovers of poetry, literature, and contemporary art, the Street Poetry Award is a precious opportunity to discover new voices in Italian unpublished writing in a intimate and authentic setting like that of the Marche villages.