Taobuk Awards

The Taobuk Awards were established in 2014 and are given annually to high-profile personalities in the literary, artistic and civic worlds. The International Award for Literary Excellence and the Lifetime Achievement Award have brought distinguished personalities in every field of knowledge to Taormina to form a Roll of Honour.

With the intention of recounting and making these talents known to the vast public that attends the Taobuk – Taormina International Book Festival every year, the awards ceremony takes place during events open to all that enhance the Festival’s most evocative venues.

A lot of personalities have been honoured with the Taobuk Award over the years, including Nobel Prize winners: Svetlana Aleksievič, Mario Vargas Llosa, Orhan Pamuk, Olga Tokarczuk and Jon Fosse.

On 22 June 2024, in the gala evening hosted by Antonella Ferrara and journalist Massimiliano Ossini, to receive the Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence were the Nobel Prize 2023 Jon Fosse, the American writer Jonathan Safran Foer, the playwright and writer Alessandro Baricco and the Spanish writer Fernando Aramburu. Actress Kasia Smutniak, Paolo Sorrentino and Turkish filmmaker Ferzan Özpetek received the Taobuk Award for Cinema. To the list of winners with the Taobuk Award are added the singer Noemi, the etoile Nicoletta Manni, the tenor Riccardo Massi and the journalist Elvira Terranova (Taobuk Award for journalism). As part of the consolidated partnership that links Taobuk to TIM – Main Partner, the TaoTIM Award was presented to Moses Pendleton, multifaceted artist director and founder of Momix.

On June 17, 2023, in the all-stars gala evening at the Teatro Antico in Taormina, the Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence was awarded to the 2022 Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux, the Iranian Azar Nafisi and the American Joyce Carol Oates. The award was also won by violinist David Garrett (Taobuk Award for Music), scientific popularizer David Quammen (Taobuk Award for Science), Nobel Prize winners for Medicine Shinya Yamanaka and Gregg Leonard Semenza, Tal Dvir and Camillo Ricordi (Taobuk Da Vinci Award). The actors and directors Valeria Golino (Taobuk Award), Marco Bellocchio (Taobuk Award), Edoardo Leo (Taobuk Award) and Michele Placido (Taobuk Award), the artists Giuseppe Penone (Taobuk Award), Levante (Taobuk Award), Giulia Staccioli (Taobuk Award) were also awarded.

On 18 June, in the extraordinary setting of Taormina’s Teatro Antico, the 2022 Prize was awarded to: Paul Auster (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence) and Michel Houellebecq (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence) the Nobel Prize for Physics Giorgio Parisi (Taobuk Award) the actor and director Roberto Andò (Taobuk Award) the actor Toni Servillo (Taobuk Award) the actors Salvo Ficarra and Valentino Picone (Taobuk Award) the astronaut Luca Parmitano (Taobuk Award) and the master of contemporary art Emilio Isgrò (Taobuk Award).

David Grossman (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Olga Tokarczuk (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Emmanuel Carrère (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Claudia Gerini (Taobuk Award), Antonio Albanese (Taobuk Award), Simona Molinari (Taobuk Award), Giovanni Caccamo (Taobuk Award), Michelangelo Pistoletto (Taobuk Award).

Svetlana Aleksievič (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Mario Vargas Llosa (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Giorgio Montefoschi (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Pupi Avati (Taobuk Award), Giovanni Allevi (Taobuk Award).

Ian McEwan (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Jhumpa Lahiri (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Nancy Brilli (Taobuk Award), Simone Cristicchi (Taobuk Award), Nina Zilli (Taobuk Award), Fabrizio Ferracane (Taobuk Award), Massimo Ghini (Taobuk Award), Marella Ferrera (Taobuk Award).

Elizabeth Strout (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Amos Oz (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Paola Cortellesi (Taobuk Award), Anna Valle (Taobuk Award), Stefano Bollani (Taobuk Award), Sergio Castellitto (Taobuk Award).

Abraham Yehoshua (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Domenico Starnone (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Isabel Allende (Sicily Prize), Christian De Sica (Award for dramatic performance in the film ‘Fräulein’), Luigi Lo Cascio (Taobuk A Life for the Arts), Gianni Amelio (Taobuk Award for Lifetime Achievement)

Michael Cunningham (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Luis Sepulveda (Sicily Prize), Leo Gullotta (Taobuk A Life for the Arts), Claudio Madris (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Giuseppe Tornatore (Taobuk Award for Lifetime Achievement).

Tahar Ben Jelloun (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence), Noa Achinoam Nini (Taobuk Award for Peace), Uto Ughi (Taobuk Award for Lifetime Achievement), Orhan Pamuk (Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence).