After 70 years, the trajectory of the Planeta Prize includes a great diversity of authors and books. Since 1952, each year the contest has awarded the novel that promises the most publishing success, evidencing the taste of each era or even anticipating a paradigm shift in literary consumption.
Last year Carmen Mola, the pseudonym of the writers Jorge Díaz, Agustín Martínez and Antonio Mercero, was the winner of the million-euro prize with the novel La Bestia. Tomorrow the gala will be held to announce the new winning book from among the ten finalists already announced for the 2022 edition.
The contest is specialized in generating best-sellers and in giving recognition to authors with a very consolidated trajectory. Consequently, familiar faces and novels that have not gone unnoticed appear in the list of names throughout the history of the Planeta Awards:
1952: At night there are no roads by Juan José Mira
1953: A leaky house by Santiago Lorén
1954: Small theater by Ana María Matute
1955: Three Footsteps of a Man by Antonio Prieto
1956: The stranger by Carmen Kurtz
1957: Peace never begins by Emilio Romero
1958: Steps without footprints by Fernando Bermúdez de Castro
1959: The night of Andrés Bosch
1960: The attack on Tomas Salvador
1961: The woman of another Torcuato Luca de Tena
1962: A light turns on and off by Ángel Vázquez
1963: The cacique of Luis Romero
1964: The bonfires of Concha Alós
1965: Luggage of love for the land of Rodrigo Rubio
1966: Groping and blind by Marta Portal
1967: The last flags of Ángel María de Lera
1968: With the night in tow by Manuel Ferrand
1969: In the life of Ignacio Morel by Ramón J. Sender
1970: The Inverted Cross by Marcos Aguinis
1971: Condemned to Live by José María Gironella
1972: The prison of Jesús Zárate
1973: Carlos Rojas feat
1974: Icaria, Icaria… by Xavier Benguerel
1975: The gangrene of Mercedes Salisachs
1976: On this day by Jesús Torbado
1977: Autobiography of Federico Sánchez by Jorge Semprún
1978: The Girl in the Golden Panties by Juan Marsé
1979: The South Seas by Manuel Vázquez Montalban
1980: Volavérunt by Antonio Larreta
1981: And God on the last beach of Cristóbal Zaragoza
1982: Check to the Lady of Jesús Fernández Santos
1983: General Escobar’s War by José Luis Olaizola
1984: Sentimental Chronicle in Red by Francisco González Ledesma
1985: I, the king of Juan Antonio Vallejo-Nágera
1986: Do not say that it was a dream of Terenci Moix
1987: In search of the unicorn by Juan Eslava Galán
1988: Filomeno, despite me by Gonzalo Torrente Ballester
1989: The night of Soledad Puértolas remains
1990: The Crimson Manuscript by Antonio Gala
1991: The Polish Rider by Antonio Muñoz Molina
1992: The labyrinth test by Fernando Sánchez Dragó
1993: Lituma in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa
1994: The Cross of Saint Andrew by Camilo José Cela
1995: The look of the other by Fernando G. Delgado
1996: The disagreement of Fernando Schwartz
1997: The Tempest by Juan Manuel de Prada
1998: Little infamies of Carmen Posadas
1999: Espido Freire’s Frozen Peaches
2000: While we live by Maruja Torres
2001: The song of Dorotea by Rosa Regàs
2002: The garden of my beloved by Alfredo Bryce Echenique
2003: The Victory Ball by Antonio Skármeta
2004: A miracle in balance by Lucía Etxebarria
2005: Roman Passions by Maria de la Pau Janer
2006: The Fortune of Matilda Turpin by Álvaro Pombo
2007: The World of Juan José Millas
2008: The Brotherhood of Good Luck by Fernando Savater
2009: Against the Wind of Angels Case
2010: Catfight. Madrid 1936 by Eduardo Mendoza
2011: The Empire is you by Javier Moro
2012: Lorenzo Silva’s Meridian Mark
2013: The sky has returned by Clara Sánchez
2014: Milena or the most beautiful femur in the world by Jorge Zepeda Patterson
2015: Naked Men by Alicia Giménez Bartlett
2016: I will give you all this by Dolores Redondo
2017: The invisible fire of Javier Sierra
2018: I, Julia de Santiago Posteguillo
2019: Terra Alta de Javier Cercas
2020: Aquitaine by Eva García Sáenz de Urturi
2021: The Beast by Carmen Mola