Mille grazie alla famiglia Vegetti!
There are dynasties that rule kingdoms, dynasties that rule empires, and then—somewhere between la commedia dell’arte and a family lunch in Borgomanero—there is the Vegetti famiglia, la stirpe immortale, custodians of the most self-referential award in the entire speculative multiverse: il Premio Ernesto Vegetti, lovingly curated, shepherded, polished, and—ma guarda un po’!—assigned by the omnipresent Commendatore, il figlio prodigio, il grande condottiere, l’uomo universale, uno spirito rinascimentale, a swirling cocktail of Lorenzo di Medici, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Dante, shaken vigorously and served with a Tabula Fati umbrella.
Every June, at the illustrious Hotel Alexander Museum Palace di Pesaro—un luogo sacro, quasi un Vaticano della fantascienza italiana—the same ritual unfolds.
The finalists gather, trembling like medieval pilgrims.
The jurors assemble, each one carefully selected through the ancient Vegetti method: chi conosce Matteo, chi ha parlato con Matteo, chi ha respirato la stessa aria di Matteo.
And presiding over every category, every vote, every sigh of cosmic importance:
Il Commendatore himself, Presidente eterno, capo supremo, capo di tutti i capi, il maestro di cerimonie.
Romanzo di Fantascienza? Science Fiction Novel?
Presidente: Matteo Vegetti.
Saggio di Fantascienza? Science Fiction Essay?
Presidente: Matteo Vegetti.
Antologia? Science Fiction Anthology?
Presidente: Matteo Vegetti.
Racconto? Science Fiction Short Story?
Presidente: Matteo Vegetti.
If they ever introduce a category for Miglior Panino alla Porchetta Fantascientifico, you can bet your last copy of Urania that Il Commendatore will be there too, con grande serietà accademica, slicing the bread with philosophical precision.
And the winners—mamma mia, che sorpresa!—tend to orbit the same gravitational field: Tabula Fati, Profondo Rosso, Scudo, Delos Digital.
A cosmic ballet of familiar names, familiar editors, familiar circles.
Una famiglia allargata, one might say. Una cena di Natale, but with diplomas.
Take the 2026 edition.
The juries, each one a small Vegetti solar system, revolve around the same sun.
Bonavoglia here, Ortino there, Piccinini everywhere—come le stelle nel firmamento, shining dutifully under Matteo’s benevolent gaze.
And the winners? Che coincidenza straordinaria!
The victorious works seem to emerge from the same editorial nebulae, as if the universe itself whispered: “Tabula Fati… Profondo Rosso… Delos… fidati, sono loro!”
But the true spectacle is not the awards.
It is Matteo stesso, il Commendatore Vegetti, the man who travels the world, crosses deserts, meditates in Tibet, films documentaries for National Geographic, teaches philosophy of space, and still finds time—miracolo divino!—to preside over every single jury of a prize named after his caro papà.
Un atto di devozione filiale, certo, but also a performance worthy of Renaissance courts.
One imagines him entering the Pesaro hall like a modern Lorenzo de’ Medici, cape fluttering, jury lists glowing with divine light.
“Grazie alla famiglia Vegetti!” they chant in unison, bowing, every year.
And truly, mille grazie!
Without them, Italian fantascienza would lose its most theatrical institution, its most baroque ceremony, its most delightful example of la gestione familiare del fantastico.
The Vegetti Prize is not merely an award—it is a family saga, a cosmic opera, a telenovela galattica where the plot never changes but the actors pretend it does.
In the end, one must admire the audacity.
To create a prize named after your father, preside over it eternally, populate the juries with loyal knights, and crown winners from the same editorial orbit—questa sì che è fantascienza vegettiana!
Not the kind written in the finalist books, but the kind lived, performed, embodied.
And so, as the 2026 winners clutch their diplomas in Pesaro, one can almost hear a celestial choir chanting:
“Viva il Commendatore Vegetti!
Viva il Premio Vegetti!
Viva la fantascienza… di famiglia!”
A standing ovation rises.
Il Commendatore smiles, con grande modestia.
The dynasty continues.
Mille grazie alla famiglia Vegetti!
2026 Premio Ernesto Vegetti Winners
The Associazione World SF Italia announced the winners of the 2026 Premio Ernesto Vegetti, an Italian SF award:
Winners, Finalist Works and Juries – 15th Edition 2026 Ernesto Vegetti Award
Per la categoria Romanzo di Fantascienza (For the Science Fiction Novel Category)
LA GIURIA (THE JURY)
President: Matteo Vegetti
Jurors: A. Bonavoglia, M. Flammia, G. Guidetti
OPERE FINALISTE – In stretto ordine alfabetico (FINALIST WORKS – In strict alphabetical order)
La grande insurrezione (The Great Insurrection) – Claude Francis Dozière (Ed. Tabula Fati, 2025)
Mai verrà la notte (Night Will Never Come) – Mariangela Cerrino (Ed. Tabula Fati, 2024)
Un compagno e tante stelle (A Companion and Many Stars) – Daniela Piegai (Ed. Delos Digital, 2025)
VINCITORE (WINNER)
Mai verrà la notte (Night Will Never Come”) – Mariangela Cerrino (Ed. Tabula Fati, 2024)
Per la categoria Saggio di Fantascienza (For the Science Fiction Essay Category)
LA GIURIA (THE JURY)
President: Matteo Vegetti
Giurati: A. Gualchierotti, L. Pietrafesa, F. Radogna
OPERE FINALISTE – In stretto ordine alfabetico (FINALIST WORKS – In strict alphabetical order)
Città invisibili, città immaginarie (Invisible Cities, Imaginary Cities) – Franco Piccinini (Ed. Scudo, 2024)
Conan il Barbaro (Conan the Barbarian) – Michele Tetro (Ed. Weird Book, 2024)
I grandi scrittori di Urania (The Great Writers of Urania) – D. Arecco, R. Chiavini, L. Ortino, F. Piccinini (Ed. Profondo Rosso, 2025)
VINCITORE (WINNER)
I grandi scrittori di Urania (The Great Writers of Urania) – D. Arecco, R. Chiavini, L. Ortino, F. Piccinini (Ed. Profondo Rosso, 2025)
Per la categoria Antologia di Fantascienza (For the Science Fiction Anthology Category)
LA GIURIA (THE JURY)
President: Matteo Vegetti
Jurors: A. M. Bonavoglia, B. De Filippis, B. Lazzari
OPERE FINALISTE – In stretto ordine alfabetico (FINALIST WORKS – In strict alphabetical order)
Il palcoscenico del fato (The Stage of Fate) – Andrea Carlo Cappi, ed. (Giraldi Editore, 2025)
Orizzonti lontani, storie di fanta west (Distant Horizons, Tales of Fanta-West) – F. Piccinini, L. Ortino, eds. (Ed. Tabula Fati, 2025)
Spazio, tempo e paradossi (Space, Time and Paradoxes) – Fabio Calabrese, ed. (Ed. Scudo, 2025)
Visioni fantastiche: on demand (Fantastic Visions: On Demand) – Giorgio Sangiorgi, ed. (Ed. Scudo, 2025)
VINCITORE (WINNER)
Orizzonti lontani, storie di fanta west (Distant Horizons, Tales of Fanta-West) – F. Piccinini e L. Ortino (Ed. Tabula Fati, 2025)
Per la categoria Racconto di Fantascienza (For the Science Fiction Short Story Category)
LA GIURIA (THE JURY)
President: Matteo Vegetti
Jurors: P. Giorgi, M. Rampini, M. Serra
OPERE FINALISTE – In stretto ordine alfabetico (FINALIST WORKS – In strict alphabetical order)
Kayla Ross, the bounty hunter (Kayla Ross, the Bounty Hunter) – Sandra Moretti (Orizzonti lontani, storie di fanta west, Ed. Tabula Fati, 2025)
Il mistero del bosco di betulle (The Mystery of the Birch Forest) – Roberta Guardascione (Fantasmi di oggi, Ed. Profondo Rosso, 2025)
Il pazzo di Verona (The Madman of Verona) – Claudio Bovino (Fantasmi di oggi, Ed. Profondo Rosso, 2025)
Il salario dello scrittore (The Writer’s Wage) – Luca Ortino (World SF Italia Magazine n. 14, Ed. Scudo, 2025)
La danza nel cimitero (The Dance in the Cemetery) – Mario Gazzola (Fantasmi di oggi, Ed. Profondo Rosso, 2025)
Un dio lo ha deciso (A God Has Decided It) – Antonella Mecenero (Robot 103, Ed. Delos Digital, 2025)
VINCITORE (WINNER)
Kayla Ross, the bounty hunter – Sandra Moretti (Orizzonti lontani, storie di fanta west, Ed. Tabula Fati, 2025)
The awards were presented at the Hotel Alexander Museum Palace in PESARO, Viale Trieste no. 20 (Italy), on June 13, 2026.
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