Presentation of the 2017 Carmen Martín Gaite Award: Pukata, by Men Marías.

MenMarías and Ana_Lena Rivera in the presentation of Pukata, Pescados y Mariscos.

MenMarías and Ana_Lena Rivera in the presentation of Pukata, Pescados y Mariscos.

On Thursday, April 12, the novel was presented Pukata, Fish and Seafood, by Men Marías, winner of Carmen Martín Gaite Award 2017, at the La Central bookstore in Callao.

The event was presented by the winner of the Torrente Ballester Award 2017, Ana Lena Rivera, and was attended by the mayor and the councilor for tourism of El Boalo, a town where the Carmen Martin Gaite Foundation and her family residence are located, in the that currently lives his sister Ana, his younger sister, who at the age of 93 actively collaborates with the dissemination of culture and with the prize they sponsor.

The winning work of the last contest,  Pukata, fish and seafood it is a work that is read at once, that hooks from the first chapter.

El Pukata is a seafood restaurant located on Playa del Frescachón, in the imaginary town of Alhibí, on the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia. The protagonists work there, originating from different countries,  who suffer and dance with the same intensity. The protagonist, Gabino, a Colombian waiter who tells his story from prison, works at the Pukata.

«When we arrived in Spain we all felt the same, we perceived ourselves as strangers, we did not recognize ourselves. His country, at last, appears before our eyes after years and years of hearing about it, dreaming of it, and, suddenly, one understands that from that very moment he is going to spend the rest of his life dreaming of returning to Colombia. , missing her, feeling a foreigner forever »

Costumbrismo of the XXI century:

pukata portrays the world of immigrants who leave their countries and families behind, and take low-skilled jobs. This story is about his life, his feelings, his problems, his failures and his successes. It is a novel in which misfortunes go hand in hand with joys, and the great moments have an aura of sadness.

«While Perlita was explaining to him how to take a woman by the waist, Don Rafael almost broke his neck with laughter and Dona Cristina encouraged the revelry ... I felt sad. Doesn't it happen to you sometimes that everything around you is perfect and you would love to participate in it? I mean, to be part of the show, of the laughter, of the merriment ... To be part of the joy. And yet they cannot, they see themselves as moviegoers or theatergoers. "

Pukata, Fish and Seafood, XNUMXst century customs.

Pukata, Fish and Seafood, XNUMXst century customs.

The protagonist of Pukata, Pescados y Mariscos, has a 10-year-old daughter in Colombia whom he does not know. When he left the country, his wife hid her pregnancy from him and Gabino has been fighting for ten years to get to know her.

Do they have children? Don't have them. Believe me, there is no more excruciating pain in this life »Gabino repeats in each chapter of the story.

Gabino recounts his life in the Pukata, but he does it from jail.

Do you want me to tell you something? May I have the advice of a prisoner who, no matter how in prison, is innocent? That of never is late is not true. Sometimes it is late. In fact, it is usually late. Because time does not return. That day when I looked at her through the glass, she will never return. Not that day or any other. Of course it is too late. "

Pukata, a dose of social reality and a hymn to hope:

Although the protagonist does not realize it, his story reflects precisely the opposite, it is a hymn to hope, to "it is never too late" for something good to happen. Because in the end, Who decides what happiness is more than oneself?

Realizing your vocation is the only way to find happiness, a happiness that, at the same time, is plagued with suffering, because do not think that this is not hard. It is. And a lot. But like a son… what does suffering matter when you have a son in your arms.

Pukata is a novel with rhythm and easy to read, but that should not mislead us: Pukata's background portrays the realities that even today our society has not overcome: Homosexuality, machismo, stereotypes and many social taboos.


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