Call for participation in the 6th edition of the International Literary Prize – “IL TRATTURO MAGNO” 2026

The award ceremony will take place in the city of L’Aquila on Saturday, October 31, 2026, at Auditorium del Parco Renzo Piano, L’Aquila.

The Tratturi: a network of ancient routes that reveal the past and offer the prospect of social and economic regeneration.

Transhumant pastoralism, which generates the Tratturi in the Italian territory, already appears during the Neolithic revolution. The term Tratturo emerges in the Middle Ages and derives from the Latin term of Roman age tractoria; a term which, in the Codes of Theodosius (401–460) and Justinian (482–565), designates the privilege of the free use of land, usually for the transit of the army, public officials or flocks, by designation-obligation of the central power of Rome.

Transhumance has constituted, in historical reality, a very complex phenomenon, which has involved different aspects of the life and culture of the peoples who lived this experience.
This phenomenon marks the landscape, influences the birth of cities, religious centers and fairs, which develop along the route of the Tratturi.
The maximum development of transhumant pastoralism and the widest structure of the royal tratturi network begin from the 15th century, with Alfonso of Aragon the Magnanimous, who, also with reference to the Spanish Mesta, in 1447 defines the Tratturi and the Customs of Foggia with “the driving of sheep into Puglia”, within the Kingdom of Naples and the new centralized power of the “Crown”.

The Customs for the Driving of Sheep was a fiscal institution, based in Foggia, which provided for assigning pastures and collecting taxes. The socio-economic system of transhumance, carried out through the Tratturi, remained stable for about four centuries, until 1806, when Joseph Bonaparte decreed its end.
Today the transhumance of flocks is extremely reduced and takes place by trucks; however, it is fundamental to understand how this phenomenon characterized for centuries the territories of Abruzzo, Molise and Puglia. The entire network of the Tratturi, in the Kingdom of Naples, extended from L’Aquila to Taranto, to Matera and covered about 3000 km of grassy routes. The most important of the royal Tratturi (three the main ones and two branches that lead back to them) is the Tratturo Magno, 244 km long, which starts from the Basilica of Collemaggio in L’Aquila, built thanks to the proceeds obtained from wool merchants, wealthy traders linked to the economy of transhumance, and arrives in Foggia.

The Tratturi and the villages crossed by them must be protected and regenerated as physical assets and as the historical memory of the people of Abruzzo, Molise and Puglia. After this brief historical excursus, it is well understood how Transhumance has been an important human, cultural and economic experience and how the tratturi have allowed cultural, linguistic, experiential and emotional contaminations such as to favor the evolution of the society of that time and create solid values that have reached us. Idioms, dialects and traditions met and gave rise to new words, new ways of acting, new food products, artifacts, which we still find today in the life of those who lived this magnificent and epic experience.
Having overcome the nostalgic moment, which leads us to a deeper knowledge of these events, having recognized the roots, we want to start again from them, as aware people, in order to know what really needs to be analyzed, saved and improved of this inestimable cultural, linguistic, artistic, food-and-wine, artisanal and economic heritage in a broad sense. We want to highlight new cultural aspects, which lead us to study and design a new usability of this reality and to recover knowledge and experiences.

For this reason, since last year, alongside the already existing sections, Poetry, Prose and Essays, a new one has been added, the Projects section. In this new space, experts in the sector will be able to develop concrete projects on how to enhance these territories, their works of art, the products that derive from them, with the supply chains that have remained intact up to today, a heritage rich in history, information, methods, knowledge, in order to make available as soon as possible the much longed-for “Shepherds’ Path”, a path that will set in motion a slow economy, to give new breath to places whose relevance calls us to re-emerge.
The other sections will have the task of allowing authors to be overwhelmed, from an emotional, cultural and historical point of view, by this experience, so that the traces left are not lost. Historical, artistic and methodological analyses will be the inspiring elements for poems, stories and essays, and everything will be the beacon that will illuminate the steps of new projects.

Also in this sixth edition we maintain the will to develop, through the cultural tools of literature, history and planning, initiatives open to the international world. The thought goes to the many Italians who emigrated and to their second and third generation descendants (in North and South America, in Australia, in Canada, in Europe, etc.), who already practice roots tourism and who could produce texts dictated by the historical memory of their ancestors and by innovative and creative ideas, to see revived the places where their ancestors lived.
The call specifies that texts in a foreign language are accepted with facing translation, by those who have wanted to preserve, as precious memory, the memories of this experience that has touched many municipalities (only the Tratturo Magno crosses fifty of them). The declared, stubborn will is to involve as much as possible young people who, starting from the traces of memory, can imagine new lives in places of great historical and cultural sedimentation, places where to live the present and the future and, above all, to produce and market the excellences of products deriving from Transhumance, which could be the source of a new (precisely because ancient) and sustainable economy, as in some realities is already happening. Only in this way can memory help tomorrow and not stop at the phase of nostalgic self-complacency.

CALL FOT PARTICIPATION IN THE 6th EDITION
OF THE INTERNATIONAL LITERARY PRIZE – “IL TRATTURO MAGNO” 2026

REGULATIONS

Article 1

Track 1 for the Poetry and Prose sections

The history of individuals, peoples, communities does not live only in books: it walks along paths, resonates in gestures, survives in transmitted knowledge.
Along the tratturi, ancient routes of Transhumance, generations of men and women have traveled distances, faced seasons, guarded animals and traditions. That epic experience has not left only memories, but a concrete legacy: knowledge, techniques, relationships, products and trades that still today represent excellences of our cultural and economic heritage.

Much of what was born along those paths has been saved from oblivion thanks to the foresight of those who knew how to recognize its value, protecting it and transforming it into a living resource for the present.
Through a story or a lyric, create a glimpse of life — real or imagined — that shows:
how this heritage has been handed down over time;
how the products and knowledge of transhumance are today testimony of that world;
how they can represent not only memory, but energy capable of generating cultural and economic development for contemporary communities.

ARTICLE 2

Requirements for participation in the Prose section.

The text, unpublished, in Italian or another language, with facing translation, will be a prose composition, typed, with a maximum length of five standard pages (1800 characters, spaces included), to be sent in Word format (PDFs, other formats or photographs of the text are not allowed) in electronic copy to info@concorsoilrovo.it.

You may participate with only one prose text. Works that exceed the length indicated by the call, that are not sent in Word format or that are not relevant to the track will be considered out of competition.

The Jury may also assign, for this section, a special prize, the “L’Aquila Capital of Culture” PRIZE, to a text that has as protagonist the city of L’Aquila or is written by an author from L’Aquila.

ARTICLE 3

Requirements for participation in the Poetry section.

The text, unpublished, in Italian, vernacular or another language, with Italian text alongside, will be a composition in verse, or poetic prose, typed, with a maximum length of 30 lines or, in the case of poetic prose, 100 words, to be sent electronically, exclusively in Word format to info@concorsoilrovo.it.
You may participate with two poetic texts. Works exceeding the maximum length, not sent in Word format or not relevant to the track will be considered out of competition.

ARTICLE 4

Track 2 for the Essays section

The Tratturo Magno L’Aquila–Foggia: history and transformations of a great economic, social and cultural itinerary of Southern Italy and of the pastoral civilization developed by it.
Contributions may concern, among other things:
the economic function of the tratturo in transhumant pastoralism;
Aragonese and Bourbon taxation and the Customs of sheep driving;
conflicts between agricultural and pastoral communities;
settlements, farmhouses, post stations and related infrastructures;
collective memory, archival sources and documentary evidence;
modern transformations and prospects for protection and enhancement.

ARTICLE 5

Requirements for participation in the Essays section.

The works must be unpublished, in Italian or another language, with facing translation, the result of original research. They must present methodological rigor, adequate apparatus of notes and bibliographic references.
Length: twenty-two standard editorial pages (max. 40,000 characters including spaces and notes), to be sent electronically, exclusively in Word format.

ARTICLE 6

Track 3 for the Projects section

The cultural roots and lived experiences of a people determine its identity and solidity over time.
Transhumance, a historical and cultural heritage, has left a concrete legacy, made of knowledge, practices, products and economic models that still today represent excellences of the territories crossed by the tratturi.
Many products deriving from the agro-pastoral world are the result of transmitted knowledge preserved with foresight. Where this heritage has been preserved, sustainable economy and cultural valorization have been generated; where it has been neglected, processes of dissolution of identity and mere homogenization have been consolidated.
You are asked to develop a project that:
identifies a product (material or immaterial) deriving from the experience of Transhumance;
describes its production chain;
highlights its cultural, historical and economic value;
proposes strategies for its enhancement in the contemporary market;
indicates elements of sustainability and innovation.

ARTICLE 7

Requirements for participation in the Projects section

The text, unpublished, in Italian or another language, with facing translation, must be structured as a feasible project, the content of which will be relevant to all the points of the above-mentioned track; it may contain graphs, drawings, maps, videos or other tools useful for its presentation. The project must not exceed twenty-two standard pages (40,000 characters, spaces included); the page containing maps or graphs will also be counted within the number of the twenty-two pages, to be sent in electronic copy, exclusively in Word format, to info@concorsoilrovo.it. Works that exceed the length of 22 standard pages, that are not sent in Word format or that are not relevant to the track will be considered out of competition, except for tables or graphs, which may also be produced in PDF.

ARTICLE 8

To the work, drafted according to the chosen stylistic mode, the candidate must attach a presentation of their personal details (first name, surname, date of birth), indication of telephone and postal contacts, email address, short biography, with explicit consent to the processing of personal data and of the submitted works, preferably in a single file

ARTICLE 9

The final deadline for participation in the competition is irrevocably set at 10 September 2026. For any clarifications and further details, the following telephone contacts are available: 347 6836508 / 340 984 7297
Email: info@concorsoilrovo.it

ARTICLE 10

The first three classified in the Prose, Poetry, Essays and Projects sections will be awarded.
The candidates ranked in first place in the Prose section, the Poetry section, the Essays section and the Projects section will be awarded respectively €1,500 and a commemorative plaque. The second-place winners will be awarded €500 and a commemorative plaque. The third-place winners will be awarded a commemorative plaque and products from the territories. In the case of an ex aequo award, the cash prize will be divided equally among the winners.
The winner of the “L’Aquila City of Culture” Prize will be awarded €500 and a commemorative plaque.
The winners will be promptly notified. The results will be made public. Special mentions may be assigned at the Jury’s discretion.
On the day of the award ceremony, the winners must personally collect the prizes or, in case of serious, unforeseen and justified inability to participate, they may be represented by persons of their trust, with a proxy and an identification document of the author.

ARTICLE 11

Members of the jury who have any kinship relations with participants will abstain from voting, with mention in the minutes. The Jury has the right not to assign prizes and to award mentions if the works are not in line with the indications of the above-mentioned call.

ARTICLE 12

The winners of the literary prize “Il Tratturo Magno” as well as the winners of the twinned competition “Il Rovo” who wish to participate in the award ceremony of the IL TRATTURO MAGNO competition will receive a voucher, which will allow them to stay overnight in the city of L’Aquila; they will also receive a parchment as a memory of the event.

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Twinning

The literary competition “Il Rovo” is honored to host again this year a twin cultural reality, the Literary Prize “Il Tratturo Magno”, dedicated to the experience of Transhumance, shared by several territories—Abruzzo, Molise and Puglia—which intend to preserve and safeguard this precious human experience, the result of an unforgettable period of agro-pastoral life; an experience that generated an authentic community spirit, the result of the meeting of lives and destinies that carried the scent of woods and plains, of harsh labor and deep exchanges.

This precious heritage must be preserved, remembered, enhanced, evoked, because collective enterprises cement people, bind them forever to places, to a shared history. The meaning of this prize is to give prominence to a reality now niche, to make it universally accessible. The TRATTURO MAGNO prize is the tangible proof that historical memory has remained in the territories of Abruzzo, Molise and Puglia and deserves to be known throughout the national territory, from the Apennines to the Adriatic, as well as internationally, for the valorization and regeneration of territories rich in history, culture, food products, artifacts, architectures, works of art with unique characteristics.