What is the award?

The City of Cuneo Award for Primo Romanzo aims to introduce readers to writers making their debut in Italian-language fiction, regardless of their origin.
, a working group led by the Cuneo Civic Libraryidentifies all debut novels it comes across, reads them, selects 25 for adults and 6 for children, and offers them to interested readers, whether they are members of organized groups (both adults and schools) or individuals.
The Award's activities conclude in November, during the scrittorincittà, when readers can meet the four most popular writers.
Adult readers, as explained in the rules, select the winner and nominate two other authors. A third author is nominated by school reading committees.

The decision to link the Award to the scrittorincittà has defined the deadlines: the reading committees begin reading the selected novels with the opening of the new edition, during the scrittorincittà in November. The reading continues until June 30th of the following year. The winner and the nominated authors will be invited to meet readers at the next edition of scrittorincittà.
 
The Prize is twinned with the Festival du premier roman de Chambéry-Savoie. Both share a focus on literary debuts and a desire to publicize their language and culture. They work to promote and showcase the new literary talents of tomorrow.