Last day of the 18th edition of the “Ostana Prize – Writings in Mother Tongue”
Sunday 28
Sunday morning began with a talk by Tétéreho Ali-Tagba (Ewe and Tem languages), “Between Ewe and Tem – At the Roots of an African Writer’s Imagination,” curated by Oliviero Vendraminetto.
La mattina di domenica è iniziata con l’intervento di Tétéreho Ali-Tagba (lingue ewé e tem) “Tra ewé e tem – Alle radici dell’immaginario di uno scrittore africano” a cura di Oliviero Vendraminetto
The meeting opened with a song shared with the audience: Bidjo kale paaa saparapa.In his hometown, Tétéreho Ali-Tagba is many things: poet, writer, storyteller, visual artist, inventor… but above all, he is a storyteller, and as such he carries the responsibility of passing down the memory and morals of a people. “The true history of a country lies in the hands of its storytellers.”
“Responsibility is a very heavy burden. When you are responsible for something, you must be very patient.”
Next, we all went together in search of Ostana’s “talvère”: Gigi Ubaudi guided us on a theatrical-musical walk, “Coma te sònes?,” discovering the hamlet of Miribrart in the company of the musician-artists of the Ostana Prize.
We walked along talvère: those strips of land that separate one field from another, but which are also places of passage, encounter, and possibility. Paths suspended between the ordered and the wild, where the boundary does not divide but invites you to cross over. With the storytellers of Ostana, we listened to the voice of Marcel the singer, followed ancient traces, danced on the grass, and called to the goats the way shepherds do, who have always known the value of margins. Because it is precisely there, on the talvèra, that the earth makes room for imagination.
After lunch, the 2026 Authors’ Prize Ceremony began, broadcast live in collaboration with Radio RBE.
The ceremony also held a special moment during Sripati Tudu’s award presentation. His new book was unveiled in an absolute preview, having been completed in the 72 hours before his long journey from India to Ostana. In front of the audience and the authorities present, Tudu opened the still-sealed package containing the first copies of the work and presented the very first one to the Mayor of Ostana, Giacomo Lombardo, as a token of gratitude for the work that the Ostana Prize carries out every year in support of minority languages and cultures.
This is how the 18th edition of the “Ostana Prize – Writings in Mother Tongue” came to a close.
Photo by: Fabio Ferrero e Luca Percivalle
Discover how the other days of the Ostana Prize went: