Eleventh Edition Jury

Born in Milan, she has worked in publishing for over forty years. She started very young, at age eighteen, right after classical high school, in the editorial office of the publishing house Dami Editore, founded in the 1970s by her father,Piero. During those years, she took her first steps in children’s publishing and discovered that it was her true calling…since then, she has written hundreds of books, and her passion for writing has remained as vibrant as day one! In 2000,she created a new character, Geronimo Stilton—a journalist mouse whose adventures continue to captivate children all over the world today. The Geronimo Stilton books have been translated into 52 languages (including Latin!). In Italy, they are published by Edizioni Piemme.

Luca Occhi, born in Imola, is one of the founders of Officine Wort (www.officinewort.com), an association that organizes literary events and games, including “Romanzo Totale: Chi ha ucciso Lucarelli?”, published by Bacchilega Editore, and the Turno di Notte contest, the only one of its kind in Italy, now in its 15th edition.
He has won numerous literary awards for his short stories, and since 2016, he has contributed opening prompts to the annual youth writing relay organized by BIMED (Biennale delle Arti e delle Scienze del Mediterraneo). He served as co-artistic director of the AEmilia Noir Festival and the Castel Nero Grasparossa Noir Crime Festival. He writes fiction for both adults and young readers. For Pelledoca Editore, he has published I misteri del Lago Nero and Il mistero del cadavere senza testa.

Her dream of becoming a writer began in elementary school and involved a classroom essay, an ugly wool sweater, and a chocolate pudding tree to plant in her school’s garden. After completing a Master’s degree in International Screenwriting and Production and an internship behind the scenes of a Disney film, she began working with and for stories, both as an author and as a ghostwriter. Among her publications for young readers are Storia di ragazzi difettosi (semifinalist for the 2022 Premio Bancarellino),Best Friends, Con o Senza di Noi (honorable mention at the 2021 Premio Scaramuzza), Libera La Tua Voce (written under the pseudonym Febe Giorgi), and Team Zero2. She is convinced that stories, in some way, help us heal.

Editor and scout for the Beretta Mazzotta literary agency, writer, owner, and bookseller at Libreria Millestorie. She teaches creative writing courses for children and adults and manages thematic camps in writing, cinema, cartoons & comics, acting, and manga for the Experience Summer Camp for kids.

A native of Milan, he has spent his career in media and communication, specializing as an editorial manager in the periodical press and multimedia sectors. After taking his first steps in the industry at Class Editori, he served as Managing Editor and Publisher at Gruner + Jahr/Mondadori, Digital Magics, and RCS MediaGroup, alongside a stint in Paris with Prisma Presse, Gruner + Jahr’s French subsidiary. Throughout his career, he has been involved in the launch of publications such as Campus, MF-Milano Finanza, the French edition of Capital, Focus, Top Girl, Jack, and Geo. As the publisher responsible for Focus, he oversaw the expansion of the brand and all of the monthly magazine’s spin-offs, starting with the children’s edition Focus Junior.Having transitioned away from traditional publishing, he currently manages projects for third-sector organizations and non-profit initiatives.