How does a literary award work? What does it mean for a book to win the Strega or Campiello prize? What does the work of a jury entail? Entering a bookstore, passing by the display of new books on the counters, you can’t help being attracted by the colourful labels proclaiming in large letters: winner of prize X, finalist in prize Y. Leafing through the letters of Alfabeto italiano, the page opens at the letter P: P for Premio, Prize in English, the word on which we alight on for this stage of our journey through Italian publishing. A word that cannot be underestimated because winning a prize – especially one of the best-known and established ones - means the certainty of a considerable increase in sales and in general greater attention from the media and the public. With Giovanni Solimine and Mariacristina Gribaudi