Cilento International Poetry
Edizione 2024

The Cilento International Poetry Prize,an award given to the leading poets, writers and artists present in the contemporary Italian and world scene, is organized by the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio of Salerno and Avellino in collaboration with the Contemporary Arts Center and under the patronage of the Campania Region, the Municipality of Salerno, the Province of Salerno, the Cilento and Vallo di Diano Park Authority, the University of Salerno - DISPS, DIPSUM, DISPAC, the Municipality of Salento Cilento, the Municipality of Roccadaspide, the Salerno Community Foundation, the Uni in Strada Association of Salerno, and the Teatro Pubblico Campano.

The Cilento Poetry Prize, which was born in 2017 in Salento, a typical Cilento village, from an idea of Menotti Lerro, has since the first edition been distinguished by the very high prestige of the poets awarded. From 2022, the Prize has an international twist thanks to funding from the Ministry of Culture / Directorate General for Archeology Fine Arts and Landscape, from the Fund for the Enhancement of Italian Culture and Language Abroad.

The Cilento International Poetry Prize Project fosters initiatives aimed at promoting and strengthening awareness of the value of Italian and Cilento language and culture in Italy and around the world.
Cilento is a vast territorial area in the province of Salerno. What makes Cilento an extraordinary and fascinating land, in addition to its scenic beauty, is also its thousand-year history.
The environmental conditions and mild climate have favored the development of ancient civilizations, from the earliest times: Greeks, Lucanians, Romans, Swabians, Angevins... a succession and overlapping of cultures, customs, traditions that have made this land unique in the world. It is a land that, due to the variety of its geological nature, orography and natural environments, was included in the prestigious network of Biosphere Reserves of the UNESCO (Man and Biosphere) MAB Program in 1997 and, in the following year, declared a World Heritage Site.