The worldwide preview of the XXIV International Nosside Prize, the only global Poetry contest for unpublished and never awarded compositions, has been presented by the President prof. Pasquale Amato in the University for foreigners “Dante Alighieri” of Reggio Calabria, City of Bergamot. Amato began by illustrating the extraordinary results of 2007 (that registered participants from 32 Countries and 5 continents presenting poems in 22 languages; a further extension in Europe and Americas, a growth of participants from Africa, first entries from Oceania and Asia) and concluded by presenting the confirmations and the novelties of Nosside 2008.

The essential lines of the Project have been confirmed:
1  -  the preference for unpublished works;
2 – the system of selection - guarantor of the impartiality of the International Jury (whose members receive the works of contestants signed by numbers and  letters);
3 - two strategic identities of the prize – the opening to all the languages of the world (five official languages of the prize Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese and French), followed by other languages:(Russian, German and Serbian) and all the forms of expression (Written, Video and Musical Poetries);
4 – the website www.nosside.com renovated and reinforced;
5 - Institutional Partners (Presidency of the Regional Council of  Calabria, the local government and provincial administration of Reggio Calabria) private sector (the goldsmith Gerardo Sacco, the “Città del Sole” Edition, National front office of AICS Association, University of Messina and the University for foreigners of Reggio Calabria as well as other Foundations, Associations, firms, cooperatives and unions). The  Overall Winner  will continue to be awarded the Silver Plaque by Gerardo Sacco and 2.000 Euros, each of  4 Winners will receive 1000 Euros and each one of the 6 Special Mentions - 500 Euro. 
Amato has then tackled the novelties of the new edition of Nosside. First of all, he has exposed the idea of the “Nosside travel from Reggio Calabria to the World”. In practice, from 16 February to 19 June,  Nosside “will be meeting” poets, peoples, languages and cultures in different Italian, European and American cities. The overall winners of past editions of the Prize, called Nosside Ambassadors are engaged in the prize presentations taking place on different destinations of Nosside travel. At Reggio Calabria’s worldwide preview of Nosside 2008 has taken part Renata Ceravolo, Nosside Overall Winner in 1995.

The first destination (and for the 10 consecutive year from 1999) is the International book exhibition of Havana, where on Saturday, February 16 at one o’clock, in the Hall of Special Events of historical, eighteenth-century fortress of Cabaña, “Nicolás Guillén” the First Worldwide Event of Nosside will take place. The second destination is the City of Mexico. The prize presentation, in honour of David Lecona Rodríguez, the Overall Winner of 2007, will take place in the Italian Cultural Institute, in February, 21 at seven p.m.

The Nosside travel will continue then in Trapani, Olbia, Podgorica (Montenegro), La Valletta (Malta), Rome, New York, Santo Domingo (international Book Exhibition), Turin (International Book Hall), Moscow, as well as in three cities of Brazil: Sao Joao of Rio Preto, San Paolo and Brasilia. The Program will be available on our website starting from February 5, with more details nearness the single Events.

The initiative of the “Nosside International Lifetime Achievement Prizes” is the second novelty. The prizes are awarded to personalities of great success that through their artistic career have exalted the strategic identities of the Project (Written Poetry with particular attention to the languages and cultures of indigenous and minority peoples, Video Poetry and Musical Poetry). The Lifetime achievement Prizes are going to be awarded on some of the destinations of  Nosside travel in the  Countries of origin of the prize winners.

The third novelty regards the “Nosside 2008” Anthology. Made  in collaboration with the Città del Sole Edition of Reggio Calabria, it is going to be, for the first time,  not only multilingual but also multimedia. A long with the book there will be also a DVD containing the winning video and musical compositions.

The winners of  XXIV edition of the Contest  are the protagonists of the second phase of the Project - called “With Nosside from the World to Reggio Calabria”. After the International Jury’s decision, the poets from different parts of Italy and the world come to the Bergamot City to take part in the Prize giving event of Reggio Calabria, that takes place in Palazzo Campanella, seat of the Regional Council of Calabria, in November, 28 at five p.m . The event will be followed by a Study Seminar, in the University of Messina, on Saturday, November 29 as well as by a Recital of the winning poets, in Rome, on Monday, December, 1.
 
The president Amato concluded underlining the explosive power that the dream of the only global Poetry Prize, in course of realization, is undertaking. A dream that, starting from Reggio Calabria – seat of the Project elaboration and organization - and coming back to it in the second phase, is showing what the just picture of the equal cultural exchange is like. A dream that is seducing not only the poets but lots of people that come to be fascinated by the poetry without borders for languages, cultures and forms of expression. A dream that can be a hope of overcoming of the lacerating divisions that pass the world through.