First Boscobello Literary Award Announces 4 Nominees; Sole Winner to Be Revealed in September

The Boscobello Literary Award, a new initiative by the Italian brand Boscobello founder Marcantonio Savelli and his wife Li Chia-hua, has revealed its four shortlisted nominees for its inaugural award. This literary prize specifically targets contemporary Taiwanese novels that have already been published. Unlike many awards, Boscobello does not accept open submissions. Instead, the organizing committee proactively reads and selects representative works from the year's publications before inviting publishers to participate.

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Many literary awards help writers enter the literary hall, and the Boscobello Literary Award hopes to select the most representative novel from the works published each year.

The four nominated novels, listed in order of stroke count of their titles, are "The Scorching July" by Lin Chun-ying, "Moon Shadow Valley Hotel" by Tso Yao-yuan, "Snaliq" by Kao Chun-hung, and "Blue Heart" by Li Lu-sheng. The award aims to establish a credible literary honor centered on the works themselves, built on long-term trust rather than immediate attention. Savelli emphasized that while many awards help writers enter the literary world, Boscobello seeks to identify the most representative novel from already published works. He believes businesses can contribute to culture by investing long-term in sustainable cultural systems.

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Companies can leave behind products, but they can also establish cultural systems that can operate continuously through long-term investment in culture.

Li Chia-hua clarified that the award is not a marketing ploy but a genuine endeavor to create a literary honor with作品 (works) at its core and long-term credibility as its goal. She stated that the true value of a literary award lies in its enduring trust from readers and the literary community years later, not just initial fanfare. The organizers intend to select only one winner annually through a clear selection mechanism to establish a distinctive literary honor. The award ceremony for the first recipient is scheduled for September 13th.

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Establishing a literary award is not a brand marketing plan, but rather a hope to establish a literary honor that is truly centered on the work itself and aims for long-term credibility.

The judging panel comprises seven scholars, with Chang Kuang-cheng, chairman and distinguished professor at Chung Yuan Christian University, serving as the chief judge. The independent panel also includes prominent academics from various institutions, including Academia Sinica and National Taiwan University. The organizers stressed that the judging process is entirely independent, with no involvement from the organizing committee in scoring or decision-making, ensuring the integrity of the selection.

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The true value of a literary award lies not in how much attention it receives in its first year, but in whether it can continue to gain the trust of readers and the literary community through the quality of its selection years later.