The pre-alpine lakes are the scenery of a new literary contest

The prize “Scritture di lago” was born: a show dedicated entirely to the tales set on the banks of large and small pre-alpine lakes. The contest has the aim to promote writing, but also to raise awareness to more and more people of the lakes area, its environmental, cultural and touristic heritage.

“Scritture di lago” is a prize created by the association “Lario in” and it provides two categories: one reserved to published writings, and another to unreleased ones. The award ceremony will take place in Como on 28^th of November.

To take place in the first category, each author will have to send ten copies of a novel or a series of tales published between 1st January 2018 and 30^th April 2020 to Scritture di Lago c/o Banca Generali Private – Piazza Volta 44 – 22100 Como and a copy as a PDF to the email address concorso@scritturedilago.com together with the author’s details and the publishing house, a brief synopsis and the author’s biography by the 30^th June. The works need to be set on the Italian and Italian-Swiss lakes also in fictional localities but anyway credible. At stake for the winner there will be 1000 euros, 500 euros for the second place and 200 euros for the third place.

Instead, regarding the unpublished section, the authors will have to send a story that has never published (not even on the web), with a length between 15,000 and 30,000 characters, set in a real and well described place, of Italian and Italian-Swiss Pre-Alpine lakes by 15th July 2020 again at concorso@scrituredilago.com. The work should be sent in Microsoft Word format and with a short synopsis indicating the locations, a curriculum and personal details of the author, in a separate document. The prizes are: €400 for the 1^st place, €200 for the 2^nd place and €100 for the 3^rd place.

“Our aim,” explain the organizers, “is to promote the knowledge of Pre-Alpine lakes through literature, and to encourage the reading and writing of works set in these locations. The fiction is often an inspiration for tourism and many readers love visiting places described in the books.”

In fact, it was the desire to be in front of the works that, until that moment were only seen on the pages of books, that in the 17^th century pushed young people of the  richest European families to travel around Italy on what was called the Grand Tour. This tradition gave Lake Como the opportunity to become an elite tourist destination for the next two centuries, while Lake Maggiore around the 1930s welcomed many American tourists fascinated by the ending of “A Farewell to Arms” by Hemingway, set right on the Verbano.

Therefore, it is the dream to see Pre-Alpine lakes once again become a desiderated tourist destination that has pushed “Lario in” to promote “Scritture di lago.” An initiative that has also received the support of “Banche Generali Private” and the patronage of the Province of Como, Province of Varese, Municipality of Varese, Chamber of Commerce of Como and Lecco, Confindustria Como and Confcommercio Como. Further information about the competition can be found on the website www.scritturedilago.it.