Planet 2021 has awarded the mysterious writer Carmen Mola for the novel ‘The Beast’ and has revealed the three names behind the pseudonym: Jorge Díaz, Agustín Martínez and Antonio Mercero.
‘La Bestia’ is about a city devastated by a multitude of crimes against girls from the most disadvantaged classes that a journalist, a policeman and a minor try to reveal. Mola has published three novels: ‘The gypsy bride’, ‘The purple network’ and ‘La nena’.
The finalist was Paloma Sánchez-Garnica, who has performed under the pseudonym Yuri Zhivago, with the novel ‘Last Days in Berlin’, presented under the fictional title ‘Children of Wrath’.
The Planeta Prize, endowed with one million euros, has become the world’s highest paid literary award, surpassing even the Nobel. “We are going to increase the amount of the prize to one million euros, therefore, practically double it”, indicated this Thursday the president of Grupo Planeta, José Creuheras.
In this edition, 654 original novels have been presented, one record figure After a whole year marked by the coronavirus and very complicated for booksellers, a union that Creuheras thanked for their work: “They have gone through a very difficult time, bookstores have had to reinvent themselves, they have served books at home.”
On its 70th anniversary, seven of the ten novels that have managed to be finalists for the Planeta Prize have been presented under pseudonyms. “This year there is a predominance of thriller and historical novel and, sometimes, a lucky mix of the two “, explained Juan Eslava Galán, member of the jury.
Ten o’clock finalists were the following:
- ‘Ciudad de fuego’, by Sergio López (pseudonym) – Winner: Carmen Mola (Jorge Díaz, Agustín Martínez and Antonio Mercero) with ‘La Bestia’.
- ‘Hijos de la ira’, by Yuri Zhivago (pseudonym) – Finalist: Paloma Sánchez-Garnica with ‘Last days in Berlin’.
- ‘Unburied corpses’, by Escolarca de Clazómenes (pseudonym)
- ‘Barefoot I’m going with you’, by Antimio Cruz Bustamante
- ‘The flame of the past’, by Aurelio González González
- ‘Barbarie’, by El Arlequinado (pseudonym)
- ‘The Oliva Tunnel’, by Jorge Sánchez López
- ‘The trip’, by Camilla Seymour (pseudonym)
- ‘El canto del rojo’, by Fermina Cobos (pseudonym)
- ‘Where the memory takes us’, by Elahanleys (pseudonym)
The kings have attended the delivery, which took place in the National Museum of Art of Catalonia. It is the second time that Don Felipe and Doña Letizia have attended this evening since the beginning of their reign, since they were five years ago on the 65th anniversary of the Prize.
The event was also attended by ministers of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, and of Education, Pilar Alegría. In addition, the Regional Minister for Culture, Natàlia Garriga, the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and the Head of Government of Andorra Xavier Espot attended.
They have also been present writers like María Dueñas, Boris Izaguirre, Manuel Vilas, Juan del Val, Javier Sierra or Marta Robles.
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