Paloma Sánchez-Garnica, 62 years old, He has won the 73rd Planeta Prize for Literature, with his ninth novel, Victory: In defeated Berlin after World War II, Victoria is forced to leave for the United States to act as a spy for the Russians. There she will live a true love story, a feeling that the author has vindicated when she expressed gratitude for the award. Upon her return, she becomes a famous radio host who will learn about the construction of the wall first hand. “This novel is about the universal feelings of human beings,” she said excitedly. She thanked her husband, Antonio, “the love of my life,” and her children.
The Madrid writer, who was already a finalist in 2021 with Last days in Berlin, a love plot in Hitler’s Germany, has received this award, the best financially endowed in Spain (one million euros), in Barcelona, as is tradition, in a ceremony presided over by the kings of Spain, Felipe and Letizia, who also celebrated the 75th year of the creation of the publishing group , the largest in Spain. He specifically addressed the members of Carmen Mola, with whom he shared the tour, to tell them that he hoped to live up to how they were when they won.
This year’s finalist, for its part, (200,000 euros prize) was the young Beatriz Serrano, 35, who turned her generational book The discontent in a literary discovery and an editorial phenomenon in 2023 (Today’s Topics) with a female protagonist fed up with the world of work. Your winning book, Fire in the throat It is an initiation novel in which the protagonist, possessor of supernatural powers, travels through the 90s and the first years of the 21st century. Blanca, daughter of a woman socially condemned for being different, becomes a teenager who rebels against abandonment that he suffered in his childhood.
The jury of the Planeta 2024 award, made up of José Manuel Blecua, Carmen Posadas, Juan Eslava Galán, Pere Gimferrer, Luz Gabás and Eva Giner (the latter replace the deceased Rosa Regás and Fernando Delgado) and Belén López, editor who acts as secretary of the voting jury, announced the ruling after eleven at night, at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya before more than a thousand guests.
The king gave a speech before the gala dinner in which he said that “reading is essential to form free citizens”, since reading shapes the imagination, the understanding of the world and the critical spirit.
Don Felipe has assured that instilling the habit of reading and teaching to enjoy it It is the “best gift” that can be given to future generationsbecause “we will never be alone if we have a good book next to us.”
The king has highlighted that Grupo Planeta manages to get people talking about books year after year and that “the invitation to reading occupies the place it deserves in our times.”
It has encouraged Planeta to continue down that path and celebrate many more anniversaries, because the dissemination of culture is a “work so noble and at the same time so demanding” that has in this editorial group “one of its great supporters.”
Felipe VI also recalled that Planeta has been “behind countless discoveries of authorstraditions and literary movements on both shores”.
It is not the first time that Sánchez Garnica receives an award from the Kings. Felipe and Letizia already presented her with the finalist three years ago, at a dinner that they also attended and in which Carmen Mola was awarded ‘and discovered’ with The Beast. On this occasion, alongside the monarchs were the president of the Catalan government, Salvador Illa, the minister of Culture, José Miguel Urtasun and the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, among other political officials.
Sanchez Garnica introduced herself under the pseudonym Anna Akhmatova and the title Good night and good luck. Serrano, a journalist by training and by profession, who debuted in the literary world with The discontenthe did it under the name Eutropio and the novel titled Milagro.
The new winner of this award is the author of best-selling historical novels, such as Sofía’s suspicion, The three wounds, The soul of stones and The sonata of silenceor (adapted for television). Owner of an extensive literary work, she has also signed The breeze from the East, The Great Arcanum, and My memory is stronger than your forgetfulness. War, peace, reconciliation, absence, encounter and love They are recurring themes in the novels of this writer who today wins her most important award.
For her part, Beatriz Serrano has developed her career in digital journalism, specializing in new narratives.. He has written for media such as BuzzFeed, Vanity Fair, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, SModa and Vogue. Currently, he works in The Country. Additionally, together with the writer Guillermo Alonso, he co-directs the podcast Arsenico Caviar, which was awarded the Ondas award in the best conversational category. Discontent is his first novel. She is also the author of the book Mujeres en Concreto, stories that cemented a new way of being in the 21st century. This book is based on her podcast, which investigates the particularities of women in the first quarter of the 21st century.
With the 1,070 originals received this year, the award has already received more than 28,000 titles throughout its historywhich José Manuel Lara promoted and set on Saint Teresa’s Day, October 15, in honor of his wife. Today, 75 years since the founding of the Planeta group, it has already accumulated 45.5 million copies sold, according to the current president of the publishing house, José Crehueras.
