Premio Acqui Storia
One of Italy's oldest and most respected history-book prizes, awarded in Acqui Terme every autumn. The ceremony at the Teatro Ariston crowns the year's best works of scientific history, popular history and the historical novel.
Why it's special
Running since 1968, the Premio Acqui Storia is a genuinely national literary event held in a small spa town — the shortlists are read across Italy and Europe, and the October ceremony draws historians, authors and a career-award laureate to the Teatro Ariston.
Programme · 2025
- The ceremony at the Teatro Ariston is free but reservation is recommended (info@acquistoria.it).
- Collateral talks and author events run in the town in the weeks around it — check the Premio Acqui Storia site for the programme.
For a spa town of fewer than twenty thousand people, Acqui punches oddly high in Italian letters. The Premio Acqui Storia, going since 1968, is one of the country's most authoritative history-book prizes — its shortlists are read well beyond Piedmont, and every autumn the winners are crowned at the Teatro Ariston in front of historians, novelists and a career-award laureate. The prize splits across scientific history, popular history, the historical novel and a children's category, with a "Testimone del Tempo" award on top.
The rhythm is the same each year: finalists in summer, winners announced in late September, and the ceremony in October. The 2025 edition — the 58th — was held on 18 October at the Ariston; the 59th is under way as of summer 2026, with 21 finalists named in early July and the ceremony expected again in October. Entry to the evening is free but worth reserving. If you're in Acqui Terme that week, it's a rare chance to catch a national book prize in a town small enough to walk end to end after — up to the Castello dei Paleologi and back before dinner.