La terra tersa by Ilaria Matteoni (effequ), La luce inversa by Mota (Wojtek), and Uomini pallidi by Giovanni Peparello (Zona 42) are the three finalist works of the contest.
In one month in Trieste, the winner chosen by the Scientific Jury will be announced on the final day of the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival.
Trieste, October 9, 2026 – A multinational corporation that has defeated hunger, but hides a secret; a woman who entrusts to writing the memories of a world almost devoid of human beings; a psychotherapeutic experiment in which three consciousnesses meet to confront the violence of the past, these are the scenarios presented by the three finalist books of the 3rd edition of the Mondofuturo Literary Award: Uomini pallidi by Giovanni Peparello (Zona 42), La terra tersa by Ilaria Matteoni (effequ) and La luce inversa by Mota (Wojtek). The three finalists address, with different perspectives and languages, the relationship between bodies, memory and transformation. Three paths that lead narrative invention to question the human consequences of its own premises.
Promoted by Area Science Park and La Cappella Underground, the Mondofuturo Award was created to enhance the intersection of literature, science fiction, and science, honoring each year the best original science fiction book, not translated from other languages and published in its first edition during the reference year. For this edition, dedicated to works from 2025, 30 submissions were received, 24 of which were eligible, showing growth compared to the 19 works in competition in each of the first two editions.
The three finalists were selected by the Jury of Experts, which brings together nationally renowned writers, university professors, journalists, and experts in literature and science fiction. They are: Nicoletta Vallorani, writer and professor at the University of Milan (President of the Jury); Loredana Lipperini, journalist, writer, author for Rai Radio3; Alberto Garlini, curator of Pordenone Legge and writer; Alessandro Mezzenalona, Giulia Martino, writer and video game critic; Andrea Viscusi, writer and content creator; Angela Bernardoni, podcaster and co-author of "Fantascienza: Storia delle storie del futuro"; Elisabetta Di Minico, researcher specializing in dystopia and alterity at the Complutense University of Madrid; Doctor Pira, Italian cartoonist, graphic designer, and television author; FantaTrieste Writers Collective.
The choice of the winner is entrusted to the Scientific Jury, composed of female and male scientists, researchers from Area Science Park and other research institutions active in the area. Joining them are several honorary members, including Alberto Bollis, co-director of the newspaper Il Piccolo, and Fabrizio Brancoli, deputy director of the newspapers of the Nord Est Multimedia group with responsibility for Events and Culture. The jury is tasked with identifying the work that best expresses a scientific, technological, and social vision.
The Mondofuturo Award, featuring the finalist books and their visions of the world, is an integral part of the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival, scheduled in the Giulian capital from November 3 to 8, 2026. On November 7 and 8, the authors will meet the public to present the finalist works. The awards ceremony is scheduled for November 8 at 6:00 PM.
The project benefits from the contribution of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and the support of “Io sono Friuli Venezia Giulia”.
THE THREE FINALIST BOOKS OF THE MONDOFUTURO LITERARY AWARD
3rd EDITION
Pale Men by Giovanni Peparello · Zona 42
World hunger has been defeated: the non-meat meat produced by Tunguska ensures satiety and peace, but also a monopoly that is hard to challenge. Behind the company’s success lies a secret binding executives, special forces, and eerie pale men. After years of trying, a journalist manages to enter the facility to interview the Vice President. An emergency on the lower levels interrupts the meeting: a problem with rats, they say. The descent into the abyss becomes an investigation into the roots of Tunguska’s dominance, amid military operations, grotesque corporate dynamics, and something that seems to be trying to surface from humanity's dreams.
The author. Giovanni Peparello was born in Orvieto in 1994 and lives in Bologna, where he studies and works, writing articles and press releases. His short stories have appeared in Specularia and Malgrado le mosche. Pale Men is his debut novel.
The Clear Land by Ilaria Matteoni · effequ
At the end of April 2078, in a world emptied of human presence, an elderly woman entrusts her story to writing. She notes down visions, losses, and domestic gestures, while the memories of her daughters, sister, and mother inhabit the silence. Set against the backdrop of environmental collapse, the written word becomes protection and care, a testament and a reinvention. With a poetic language shaped by the world's ruins, the novel crafts a post-apocalyptic diary of intimate resistance, where surviving means remembering.
The author. Ilaria Matteoni (Carrara, 1996) lives between Pisa and Carrara. In 2023 she published Becco d’arancia e altri racconti with L’Erudita and writes about literature and cinema for L’Indiependente. Graduated in Medieval Art History at the University of Pisa, she is the author of scientific contributions. In 2021 she began her PhD at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, focusing mainly on sculpture and stone furnishings.
Inverse Light by Mota · Wojtek
Vanessa, Siddiq, and Martin participate, under the guidance of Dr. Hollis, in the psychotherapeutic experiment of the Inverse Light Chamber. Through the account of the abuse they suffered in childhood, their consciousnesses emerge, blend, and intertwine, opening up a possibility to process the pain. Their responses diverge: Vanessa seeks detachment, Siddiq forgiveness, while Martin is driven by anger toward revenge. The result is a story told in three voices, lucid and dreamlike, about the power of manipulation and the search for a place where love is no longer violated.
The author. Mota was born in Moncalieri in 1981. After attending a storytelling techniques school, which he left shortly before graduating, he has been living in the mountains since 2006. He has worked various jobs and dedicated himself to rap music under the pseudonym Invernomuto, while continuing to write. Inverse Light is his first published novel.
