The Argentine author Samanta Schweblin wins the million euros of the Aena Narrative Prize | Culture | EUROtoday

After two months of expectation and far controversy, this Wednesday night time it was revealed who has gained the primary Aena Prize for Hispanic American Fiction. The Argentine author Samanta Schweblin has been introduced as deserving of the million euros by Rosa Montero, president of the jury, at a gala with dinner on the Barcelona Maritime Museum, shortly earlier than town celebrates the good literary competition of Sant Jordi, on April 23. The title was made public after the dinner, wherein some stress reigned and wherein the inexperienced envelope from Aena, which the jury members deposited when all of the attendees had been already seated, waited to be opened on a lectern on the stage.

The award acknowledges the very best title revealed within the Spanish-speaking world or in co-official languages ​​and translated into Spanish in 2025. Samanta Schweblin has been honored for her novel The good evil (Seix Barral) and has overwhelmed 4 different finalists, introduced on March 18: Now and within the hour (Alfaguara), by Héctor Abad Faciolince; Marciano (Random House Literature), by Nona Fernández; The illusionists (Anagram), by Marcos Giralt Torrente, and Camera obscura canon (Seix Barral), by Enrique Vila-Matas.

The good evil, by Samantha Schweblin (Buenos Aires, 48), is a set of 5 tales that begins with that of a mom who ties an anvil to her physique, jumps into the lake and, after failing to commit suicide, returns dwelling to arrange dinner. Relationships between fathers or moms and youngsters abound on this “catalog of loneliness,” as Nadal Suau wrote in his overview in EL PAÍS, “with the painful addition that the presences that should cure said loneliness are so close.” According to the creator, the tales deal with a selected query: “We all know that we are commanded by forces, the ideas of the world, family mandates… Given all these forces, is there one of them capable of putting the others in check? Can we pay attention to what we want and what we are? The protagonists of my stories have managed to touch that moment of change.”

The winner thanked the popularity stating that, for the Aena award, selecting her is “a declaration of principles.” According to the author, worldwide awards normally reward novels and, “very occasionally, a name like Alice Munro” seems, that of a brief story creator. “Those of us who write stories run half lame,” mentioned Schweblin, who thought of that the prize has taken “a first step in rewarding the exception.” In a nervous tone, he declared that he was “in shock” and acknowledged that “it would have been hard to be in the jury’s shoes.” The creator had phrases of gratitude for her household, for the “very abandoned” public college of Buenos Aires, for infecting her with the studying ardour, and for the readers.

In current weeks, the Aena award has been the protagonist of conversations within the literary sector, each as a consequence of the truth that it’s promoted by an airport administration firm, 51% owned by the State, and as a consequence of its excessive monetary endowment. The winner and the finalists, who will obtain 30,000 euros every, attended the gala after 24 hours of exercise in Barcelona, ​​with a gathering with the media and a go to to Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia. In the relaxed ambiance of the day prior to this, all of them affirmed their enthusiasm and pressured that it’s a “serious and literary” award, as Schweblin said on the eve of the award. However, the candidates’ perspective had become seen nerves at first of the supply gala.

Maurici Lucena, president of Aena, welcomed the attendees, responding very on to the controversy and confessed a sure astonishment on the lack of information of the award: “Since it was presented publicly, a lot has been written and not always with good guidance. Sometimes things are simpler,” he said. In his speech, the president contradicted Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman, who thought of that the one goal of an organization is to make a revenue, and spoke about company social accountability: “Societies are imperfect and patronage makes sense to contribute modestly to the support of the general interest.” Lucena insisted that “it is normal for patronage to be carried out by private companies that do not necessarily have anything to do with the cultural activities that they generously finance.”

Although he didn’t title names in order to not put them “in any garden,” Lucena spoke of the participation of many professionals from the literary sector within the development of the award. He additionally thanked the participation of the preselectors and the ultimate jury, composed of Pilar Adón, Leila Guerriero, Luis Alberto de Cuenca, Jorge Fernández Díaz, José Carlos Llop, Elmer Mendoza, Sergio Vila-Sanjuan and Jesús García Calero, in addition to the help of the Minister of Transportation, Óscar Puente. Lucena insisted that “the award should not have ideological or editorial interference of any kind.”

The dinner featured personalities from the world of politics and tradition. Among the authorities, the Catalan president, Salvador Illa; Jaume Collboni, mayor of Barcelona, ​​and Jordi Hereu, minister of Industry and Tourism. Also among the many viewers had been Javier Argüello, Paula Bonet, Rosa María Calaf, Najat El Hachmi, Bob Pop, Pilar Eyre, Paulina Flores, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Carme Riera, Santiago Roncagliolo and Jordi Soler. There had been additionally seen absences, similar to that of the administration of Grupo Planeta, which had two of its authors among the many finalists (Schweblin and Vila-Matas).

The first gala of the Aena Narrative Award was offered by Martina Klein and Josep Cuní, below the course and manufacturing of La Tropa Produce, in control of organizing occasions such because the Feroz movie awards. One of their most putting proposals was to recreate the 5 finalist books within the set design, signed by the artwork director Vanesa de la Haza. The playwright Alda Lozano wrote a monologue wherein she revived Josefina, the grandmother of Marcos Giralt Torrente, one of many protagonists of The illusionists, via the voice of actress Nieves Soria. Samanta Schweblin’s ebook impressed a musical composition that its creator, Álex Gassent, carried out on the piano. Ryo, the daughter of the protagonist of the Vila-Matas work, was incarnated in the course of the gala as Lola Blasco, actress, playwright and winner of the National Prize for Dramatic Literature. The work of Nona Fernández was current via the stay drawing of the “painter” Patricio Hidalgo, and the voice of the Chilean actor and director Benjamin Leiter. AND Now and within the hour, by Héctor Abad Faciolince, set within the conflict in Ukraine, gave rise to the choreography of the Ukrainian Alina Sokulska.

With the award already inaugurated, there are nonetheless many doubts about its continuity or doable modifications, since it’s topic to any political change. Lucena assured that the annual name will probably be maintained round Sant Jordi and in addition the quantity of the prize, and in addition expressed the want that the situation stays in Barcelona. According to Álvaro Colomer, technical director of the award together with María José Solano, it’s the intention that the jury modifications yearly, however it’s not clear that this would be the case. On the opposite hand, it’s not but identified how the “thousands of copies” of the 5 finalists will probably be bought, for which Aena will make investments multiple million euros and can allocate it to its airports and in addition to academic and cultural facilities within the locations the place it has a presence.