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Miguel Lorenci
Madrid
Martes, 14 de enero 2025, 21:35
Fernando Arrabal, the playwright, poet, and writer, received the Zenda Honor Award, while writer and journalist Leila Guerriero was awarded the narrative prize. They both accepted their accolades on Tuesday at a grand event celebrating literature and creativity, held at the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid. In this inaugural edition, awards were given in twelve categories, recognizing literary, editorial, and reading promotion efforts.
Fernando Arrabal, at the age of 92, was honored for his illustrious career. The author of 'Carta al general Franco' accepted the award with a broad smile and overwhelming enthusiasm. "I was offered French nationality, but I am a Spanish writer and will always be. It is impossible for me to be French," he declared emotionally.
Leila Guerriero won her award for her reportage book 'La llamada' about Silvia Labayru, a Montonera victim of the Argentine dictatorship. "There is no fantasy in my book: everything was seen, read, and investigated. It is a narrative that can be as powerful in fiction as in non-fiction," said the author upon receiving her award from her friends Javier Cercas and Julia Navarro.
María Sánchez received the poetry award for 'Fuego la sed'; Xavier Pla the essay award for 'Un corazón furtivo'; Fernando del Rey and Manuel Álvarez Tardío the history award for 'Fuego cruzado'. Ledicia Costas received the children's and youth award for 'Siete dientes de león'; the late Camila Cañeque the debut award for 'La última frase'; Cristina Gómez Baggethun the translation award; Jorge Carrión the innovation award; Librería Gil in Santander was named best bookstore and Visor Libros best editorial work. The special Zenda-Edhasa award went to painter Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau.
Arturo Pérez-Reverte, promoter of the platform, welcomed the 300 guests to an event joined by authors such as María Dueñas, Javier Cercas, Luis Mateo Díez, Luz Gabás, Félix de Azúa, Julia Navarro, Juan Gómez-Jurado, Ray Loriga, Juan Eslava Galán, Soledad Puértolas, José María Merino, Luis García Montero, Clara Sánchez, Juan Manuel de Prada, Andrés Trapiello, Carmen Posadas, Megan Maxwell, Karina Sainz Borgo, and José Ángel Mañas. Also present were filmmakers Álex de la Iglesia and José Luis Garci, and musician David Summers.
"The Zenda Awards are genuine and aim to recognize the effort and talent of writers, booksellers, and publishers. Instead of monetary rewards, their value is measured in prestige: we intend for both the high quality of the jury and the fairness with the awardees to make these awards a benchmark," said Pérez-Reverte, the mastermind and soul of Zenda and the great 'godfather' of the evening who reviewed the platform's brilliant years.
The gala was hosted by Espido Freire and Jesús Vigorra and enlivened by Leo Harlem and Loquillo. Attendees included Minister Félix Bolaños, the Mayor of Madrid José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Secretary of State for Culture Jordi Martí Grau, and politicians such as Borja Semper, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, and Gabriel Rufián.
The jury for the awards comprised professionals from the book and media sectors, including Guillermo Altares, Nuria Azancot, Laura Barrachina, Pepa Blanes, Jesús García Calero, Antonio Lucas, Alberto Olmos, Cristina Rivera Garza, Sergio Vila-Sanjuán, and Santos Sanz Villanueva, as well as Leandro Pérez and Álvaro Colomer (jury secretary), both representing Zenda magazine.
Founded in April 2016 by writer and academic Arturo Pérez-Reverte and directed by Leandro Pérez, Zenda Libros is a platform dedicated to promoting and disseminating Spanish literature. It has published articles by over 1,700 Ibero-American authors. It holds literary contests every month and publishes adventure novels under the Zenda-Edhasa imprint, directed by María José Solano. It was awarded the Liber prize for promoting reading and the Pop Eye 2022 award for best publication.
"Zenda will be a territory of books and friends. A broad-reaching, cross-sectional space. A kind of cooperative available to both readers and participating authors, where everyone, from the most fortunate to the most modest, receives the deserved attention," said Arturo Pérez-Reverte, co-founder of Zenda, when the project was launched in early 2016.
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