On 1 November, Daniel Pennac will receive the Chiara Prize for Lifetime Achievement

These are intense moments because of the Chiara Prize. While waiting to discover who this year’s winner is (the announcement will be made on Sunday 25 October, at 5 p.m. in the Ville Ponti, in Varese, in the presence of the three finalists, Mauro Covacich, Alberto Nessi and Francesco Recami), on Sunday 1 November, it will be the turn of the French writer Daniel Pennac to receive the 2015 Chiara Prize for Lifetime Achievement. The appointment is for 5 p.m. at the Teatro Sociale, in Luino.

“Thanks to the Friends of Piero Chiara, Luino is confirming its role as a first class, cultural centre,” said Mayor Andrea Pellicini. “The Chiara Prize for Lifetime Achievement continues to be an event with great fascination, which we are honoured to host. With Pennac, we are repeating the tradition of awarding hugely talented writers.”

The author of the classic saga of Malaussene will receive the Prize, “for being able, with his works, to promote a passion for reading and the image of an open, multi-ethnic and supportive world, in which we would all like to live. A world in which irony and tragedy are happily encountered”.

The Chiara Prize for Lifetime Achievement is being awarded to a foreign writer to celebrate Expo 2015: the event, hosted by Claudia Donadoni, will include an interview with Pennac, by Fabio Gambaro, with translation by Rita Ianniciello.

Since 2010, Luino has hosted this event, which has awarded Andrea Camilleri, Franca Valeri, Paolo Villaggio, Ermanno Olmi and Luis Sepúlveda. Entrance is free.