Bagutta Prize

The Bagutta Prize is an Italian literary prize that is awarded annually to Italian writers. The prize originated among patrons of Milan's Bagutta Ristorante. The writer Riccardo Bacchelli discovered the restaurant and soon he regularly gathered numerous friends who would dine there together and discuss books. They began charging fines to the person who arrived last to an appointed meal, or who failed to appear. At first, the funds so collected were spent on miscellaneous items, but on 11 November 1927, the group decided to use the funds to create a literary prize. They named it after the restaurant. Other directors of the prize include Emilio Tadini, Mario Soldati and Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti.

From the Wikipedia article “Bagutta Prize”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Check the official rules of the Bagutta Prize for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.