A literary contest to remember Peppino Mereu and his poetry.

Poetry, fiction, music, and the Sardinian language return to Tonara with the "Po Peppinu Mereu" Literary Competition, organized for the ninth consecutive year by the Tonara Female Polyphonic Choir with the support of the Municipality of Tonara, the Fondazione di Sardegna, the BIM Taloro, and the Sardinia Region.

This event, celebrating Peppino Mereu, a poet from Tonarese born in 1872 and who died in 1901, harks back to the work of an intellectual who used poetry in the Sardinian language as a tool to recount and denounce the island's profound social and economic inequalities. Mereu was also the author of the lyrics to "Nanneddu Meu," a composition that over time became a symbol of Sardinian music, subsequently reinterpreted by both traditional folk choirs and the island's leading soloists and pop and rock groups.

The competition renews attention to the language and culture of Sardinia, embracing diverse forms of expression and engaging poets, writers, musicians, and students. The prize is divided into four sections: rhyming poetry in the Sardinian language, open to all of the island's linguistic variants; free verse poetry in the Sardinian language; narrative writing for schools with "Iscrie unu contu" ("Write a Story"); and, finally, "Poetry and Music," which invites reinterpretations of poetry through rock, pop, rap, polyphony, canto a tenore, and other forms of traditional Sardinian music, with particular emphasis on those based on the verses of Peppino Mereu himself.

"The festival is not limited to preserving a legacy of the past," explains Caterina Carboni, president of the Tonara Polyphonic Choir, "but rather, by involving schools through a prize for classes that write poems or stories in Sardinian, it aims to be a living instrument of expression and creativity that, starting with the youngest children, continues the transmission and continuity of this cultural legacy."

Participation is free and open to all, with the exclusion of previous winners. Works must be unpublished and not previously awarded or published. The deadline for submissions for the poetry and fiction sections is October 12, 2026, while schools may participate until October 26. Submissions can be sent directly to the "Po Peppinu Mereu" competition office: Coro Polifonico Femminile Tonara, Viale della Regione sn, 08039 Tonara (NU), or to the following address:

Email: corofem@hotmail.com. The competition offers a total prize pool of €4,200, with prizes awarded to the top three in each of the four categories. The entries will be judged by a jury chaired by Gianfranco Tore, professor of Modern History at the University of Cagliari's Faculty of Humanities, and composed of scholars and experts in language, literature, and music related to Sardinian culture.

The final event and awards ceremony, preceded the day before by a review of folk songs and music, will be held in Tonara on November 15, 2026, as part of a two-day event to remember Peppino Mereu through what was most deeply his: words, poetry, and a language that continues to find new voices, new forms, and new ways to tell the story of Sardinia.

(Unioneonline)