The Crotone Prize (Italian: Premio Crotone, Italian pronunciation: [pre-mee-oh-kro-TOH-neh]) was an important Italian literary award. It was started on April 4, 1952, in Crotone, Calabria, due to the efforts of then-mayor Silvio Messinetti.

History

The first official ceremony took place in November 1956, and the prize continued until 1963. During its short but important time, the Crotone Prize became an important event in Italian cultural life, recognizing and celebrating key figures in the nation's literature.

Notable winners included Leonida Repaci, Leonardo Sciascia, and Pier Paolo Pasolini. However, Pasolini's award in 1959 was revoked in a controversial way by Francesco De Lorenzo, the prefect of Catanzaro at the time.

The jury included some of Italy's well-known literary figures, such as Giuseppe Ungaretti, Carlo Emilio Gadda, Arnoldo Mondadori, Valentino Bompiani, and Alberto Moravia, among others. Their involvement helped increase the prize's importance, establishing Crotone as an important cultural hub in Southern Italy.

Despite its early success, the Crotone Prize held its final ceremony on April 6, 1963, due to difficulties with organization and resources. Nonetheless, its legacy remains in Italian literary history, having highlighted works and authors that left a lasting impact on the country's cultural development.