Planeta Award 2019 for Javier Cercas. Finalist: Manuel Vilas

Last night the Planet Award 2019 that the writer took Javier Fences, with his novel Terra Alta. The finalist was Manuel Villas, with Joy. We review the trajectory of these two authors who culminate a little more with this very important annual award.

Planet Award 2019

El prestigious award and best endowed financially of the Spanish letters (with 601.000 euros for the winner and 150.250 for the finalist) was delivered last night in Barcelona at their 68th edition. With certain controversy or at least reverse interest between two of the major publishing groups of our country as regards the Spanish edition. And it is that both winner, Javier Cercas, and finalist, Manuel Vilas, leave Penguin Random House by Planet. Of course it is curious or, rather, the public start of the evening trade war between the two publishing giants.

The Planet award had been rewarding authors say more commercial and popularas Santiago Posteguillo last year, Dolores Redondo or Javier Sierra, and finalists such as Pilar Eyre or Mara Torres. Y this year seems to have wanted to find a balance between the strictly literary and that commercial value.

Winner - Javier Cercas

The Extremaduran writer and columnist, author among others of Soldiers of Salamishas been the winner of this edition for his novel Terra AltaIt is a very hot current affairs story with the underlying theme of the you procés Catalan. Its protagonist is Melchor Marín, former convicted criminal, considered a hero in the jihadist attacks of 2017 and who works as a mosso d'esquadraMore current impossible, which is also curious.

Marín you will have to investigate a triple murder and Cercas took the name as pseudonym and changed the title of the novel to be presented for the award. Your intention is a series of more stories of the black genre and pure fiction.

  • Other works by Cercas are Anatomy of an instant or The monarch of the shadows.

Finalist - Manuel Vilas

And the finalist was Manuel Vilas, a writer from Huesca, author of poetry and essay as well as narrative. Has presented Joy, which appears to be a sequel of last year's best-seller and literary phenomenon that was Ordesa, an autobiographical work that has already been translated into a dozen languages. On Joy we have a narrator who is a middle-aged writer, who mourns the passage of time and the loss of loved ones. Therefore, try escape depression and pretends to just get to be feliz.

Vilas also entered the award with a pseudonym, that of the Swedish actress Viveca Lindfors, and with another title for the novel: Just as we were.

  • More works by Vilas are Spain, the luminous gift o Lou Reed was Spanish.

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