“A work of overwhelming intelligence, a proposal in which language, ideas, art excel (…) An extraordinary anomaly in the Catalan literary scene”. This is how the jury defines Els irredempts (LaBreu), the book by Cristina Garcia Molina that has won the Llibreter en Catalan prize. The prize was awarded yesterday by the Booksellers Guild of Catalonia with the votes of the associated establishments, of which more than a hundred have voted for the best book of the past year in each category.
The author acknowledged that “it’s not an easy or pleasant story, and it didn’t come out in two days”, and she confessed that she believed “that it would be a dead book or that at some point I would end up forgetting it. I’m proud to have reached the end”. It is a literary triptych made up of three independent stories that end up investigating rooting. According to the publisher, Ester Andorrà, it is “an artistic and vital manifesto that opens the way for a new way of narrating”.
In the category of other literature, the winner was the South African Damon Galgut with La promesa, from (Les Hores/Libros del Asteroide), which had won the Booker prize in 2021. The novel follows a family lineage for more than three decades, and according to the publisher Maria Sempere, of Les Hores, it touches on “issues that concern individuals and at the same time brings to light the history of South Africa and the disillusionment after the ‘apartheid with an innovative style’. Luis Solano, from Asteroide, pointed out the importance of an award that is not only one of the few in Spain for a published work, but also serves to vindicate the prescriptive work of booksellers.
In the children’s and youth category (LiJ) in Catalan, the winner was Roger Tarrés with the first installment of the fantasy trilogy Fills d’Èodhum. The green menace (Fanbooks), a book of which the publisher Patrizia Campana was very proud because it is not easy to find fantasy of quality and closeness, and she also emphasized that “it is incredible that a new author is as mature as writer”. Tarrés guaranteed “adventures, combat, war, strategy, a very brave protagonist, love, hate, a completely new world, friendship and revenge” and that it can be enjoyed at any age.
In LiJ of other literatures, Pardaleta / Gorrioncita (Meraki), by the Portuguese Joana Estrela, was awarded. According to the publisher Alba Besora, it is a graphic novel in which “a shy and observant girl searches for her identity, and gives visibility to the LGTBI group”.
As for the illustrated album, the award went to Hi hivia una forma / Érase una forma (Barrett), by the Gazhole couple
