Two women representing different continents and generations are the latest winners of the coveted Herralde Prize from Barcelona-based publisher Editorial Anagrama. For only the second time, two authors share this annual prize rewarding an unpublished novel written in Spanish. Chita Rubert28, is the youngest winner in the history of the prize. She grew up between Barcelona and Galicia, and currently lives in New York, where she is completing her doctorate at Princeton University. The other winner is Cynthia Rimsky62, Chilean author of ten novels, who lives in Buenos Aires where she is a professor at the Universidad Nacional de las Artes. The novels by Rubert and Rimsky were published by Anagrama in Spain on November 27. Publication in Latin America will follow this month.
The two novels received advances of 15,000 euros with the price, which “puts it on the radar of other international publishers who might be interested in its translation”declared the editorial director of Anagrama, Silvia Sesé.
“I pay particular attention to Herralde”said Juan Milà, editorial director of HarperVia, who worked in Spain for many years, notably in publishing houses such as Planeta and Salamandra. “It is the best guarantee for many authors who are about to establish themselves in Spain and, ultimately, internationally”he added, recalling notable winners such as Roberto Bolañothe last Chilean to receive the prize, which was given to his seminal novel The wild detectives in 1998.
Rimsky’s award-winning novelClear and confusing, is his first with Anagrama, which manages the translation rights for the author in partnership with the Indent agency. Key Biscayne Facts by Rubert follows My days with the Koppspublished by Anagrama in 2022, which has also been translated into German and Portuguese.
In an interview given to The VanguardRubert explained that although the title of his novel means that it could “be considered a false noir novel […] there are actually several levels in this novel”. She added that she “wanted to show people who live on the margins of society”.
According to his agent Marina Penalva of Casanovas & Lynch, Rubert’s novel combines elements of American noir and British humor. The story follows a divorced father who takes his son and daughter to live for a year on a small island off the coast of Miami. Its eccentric cast of millionaires, diplomats, intellectuals and misfits is reminiscent, Ms. Penalva said, of the novels of Patricia Highsmith as well as the television series The White Lotus and the film Marriage Story, which depicts a difficult divorce and a battle for marriage. childcare. She added: “I can’t imagine a better novel for the dark and strange times we live in right now.”
As for clear and confusing of Rimsky, it is a “avant-garde romantic comedy”, according to Juan Pablo Villalobos, former winner of the Herralde Prize and now member of the jury. Centered on a plumber who falls in love with a conceptual artist, the book was inspired by workers Cynthia Rimsky met while building a new house. “Cynthia Rimsky’s work is as patient as it is full of humor and endearing characters, where the question of the limits and forms of narration plunges us into a profound experience of memory, desire and forgetting”said Chilean novelist Simon López Trujillo.
Many Spanish literary prizes are sponsored by publishers and awarded to unpublished novels, allowing authors to submit their works directly. Subsequently, the books benefit from the publicity surrounding the announcement.
Anagrama’s publication schedule for Herralde winners is carried out accordingly. “Anagrama editors work under tight deadlines to publish winning books shortly after they are announced”explains Daniel Saldaña Paris, finalist for the 2021 Herralde Prize for The dance and the fire. The official announcement – usually of a winner and a finalist – always takes place on the first Monday in November, with a release later in the month.
This approach – publishers awarding prizes to authors for unpublished novels – is very different from the prize system in the US, UK and other European countries. Traditionally, when an author receives an award, the award jury has the opportunity to review the critical reception of the work; Furthermore, for most literary prizes, jury members represent a cultural institution, rather than a specific publisher.
There are exceptions that follow the Spanish model in the English-speaking world, notably the Novel Prize. Launched in 2020 and awarded jointly by Fitzcarraldo (UK/Ireland), New Directions (North America) and Giramondo (Australia/New Zealand), the Novel Prize is an innovative collaboration between the three literary publishers aimed at rewarding short stories works of fiction in English.
But in Spain, almost all publishers offer prizes, some of which are extraordinarily lucrative. Planeta, the country’s largest publishing house, awards 1,000,000 euros for its main prize and 200,000 euros for the finalist. These awards made it possible to defend lasting works, such as The Sound of Falling Things by Juan Gabriel Vásquez, published by the Alfaguarda Prize of Penguin Random House Spain, and Cherry timeby Montserrat Roig, published by the Sant Jordi de Planeta Prize for novels in the Catalan language.
Although Anagrama is owned by the Italian publishing house Feltrinelli, the house remains independent from Planeta and Penguin Random House, the two publishing houses that dominate the book industry in Spain, which was Jorge’s intention Herralde, who founded Anagrama in 1969. The prize that bears his name is still distinguished by the number of great Spanish-speaking authors – Spanish and Latin American – that it has rewarded since its creation in 1983.
“The Herralde Prize enjoys prestige and consideration in the literary world, among booksellers and critics”said María Lynch, director of Casanovas & Lynch, the agency that represents a handful of Herralde Prize winners, including Andrés Barba, Mariana Enríquez, and now Xita Rubert. “International scouts and publishers are paying attention.”
Copyright PXxyz, LLC and used with permission; This article was originally published on December 2, 2024 in Publishers Weekly. Translated by Julia Steiner. Reproduced in partnership with Publishers Weekly.
BIOGRAPHY
Jeremy Wang-Iverson (New York, 1980) is a literary publicist based in Barcelona. His clients include Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Fonograf Editions and The New Press, among others. He was interviewed on the Index for Continuance podcast about the work of small publishers in the United States.
