The Terzani Prize,
The Terzani Prize, which pays homage to the Florentine journalist and writer Tiziano Terzani, was established in 2004 by the Udine cultural association vicino/lontano in agreement and with the collaboration of Terzani’s wife, Angela, and their son and daughter, Folco and Saskia Terzani.
At the first meeting of the Terzani Prize jury, on December 5, 2004, in Udine, the polish writer and war reporter Polish Ryszard Kapuscinski, now deceased, eloquently expressed the sense of the Terzani Prize within the vicino/lontano project: ” “I have very fond memories of Tiziano Terzani. It is said that we live in a globalized world, and yet, our world consists of a great number of regions, a multitude of diverse cultures. Through his work as a journalist, Tiziano Terzani succeeded in creating a bridge between diversity and difference, and in so doing, helped others to gain an understanding of the world, a world which is changing both rapidly and dramatically. It was his ability to observe that enabled him to do this, his eyes knew the right way to look. This is what made Tiziano Terzani such an important witness for our times. There are many who write – today we are engulfed by floods of words – but little of what is written will stand the test of time.”. The Terzani Prize is awarded annually during the course of the vicino/lontano Festival, which is held in Udine every May. The jury, whose current members are Enza Campino, Toni Capuozzo, Marco Del Corona, Andrea Filippi, Milena Gabanelli, Nicola Gasbarro, Carla Nicolini, Marco Pacini, Paolo Pecile, Remo Politeo, Marino Sinibaldi, Mario Soldaini is chaired, as it has been from the very first edition, by Angela Terzani, thus guaranteeing the independence of the award.
Translation by Amanda Hunter
Tiziano Terzani
Born in Florence in 1938, Terzani lived in Asia for thirty years with his wife Angela and their children Folco and Saskia. His work as correspondent for the German weekly Der Spiegel took him to Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Bangkok and New Delhi, where he also worked as a journalist for the Italian newspapers La Repubblica, L’Espresso, and Il Corriere della Sera.
He was also the author of numerous books, many of which proved highly successful and were translated and published in many languages, particularly those bearing testimony to the most monumental events of Asian history, including languages: Pelle di leopardo (1973); Giai Phong! La liberazione di Saigon (1976), La porta proibita (1984); Buona notte, Signor Lenin (1992) and In Asia (1998).
His publications during the latter stages of his life stage have a more philosophical, existential slant, and include the best seller Un indovino mi disse (1995); Lettere contro la guerra (2002) and Un altro giro di giostra (2004) in which he recounts his last ‘journey’: that of his battle with terminal illness and the industry that surrounds it.
Terzani died in Orsigna, a small village in the Tuscan Apennines, in July 2004. In the years following his death a number of posthumous works have been published, namely: La fine è il mio inizio: Un padre racconta al figlio il grande viaggio della vita (2006), which was made into a film in 2010, Fantasmi. Dispacci dalla Cambogia (2008) and Un’idea di destino: diari di una vita Straordinaria (2014).
In addition to the Vicino/lontano International Literary Prize, there are two other initiatives dedicated to his memory: Premio nazionale per la umanizzazione della medicina (The International Prize for the Humanisation of Medicine) established in Alba-Bra, Cuneo and the website www.tizianoterzani.com.
Translation by Amanda Hunter
