Chiara Barzini shortlisted for 2026 Jan Michalski Prize

The Jan Michalski Prize for Literature is awarded annually for an outstanding work of world literature. An original feature of the Prize is its multicultural nature: it rewards works of all literary genres, fiction or non-fiction, irrespective of the language in which it is written. The rotating jury, which is renewed every three years, is made up of writers recognized for their linguistic skills and their openness to literary diversity. An artist with an interest in literature is also given a seat.

This year, Chiara Barzini’s Aqua: A Story of Water and Lost Dreams is on the shortlist!

Jury member Vera Michalski-Hoffmann, says of Aqua: “The author returns to the Californian landscape of her youth to focus on the history of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a phenomenal construction completed in 1913, envisaged to carry water, the source of life, to Los Angeles, a barren place at that point that became thanks to it a megalopolis, and over the following decades, the epicentre of global cinema. […] A book of hybrid nature that combines various literary genres: travel writing, philosophy, cultural history and memoir.”

© Tommaso Gesuato