Spain’s Ediciones Nowtilus Launches Literary Prize

By Adriana V. López -- Críticas, 5/1/2008 8:56:00 PM

The Spanish publishing house Editorial Nowtilus announced in April that it will publish the winners of the prestigious Premio Alfons el Magnànim “Valencia” de Narrativa. The 60-year-old Alfons el Magnànim "Valencia" Fiction Prize—named after the 15th-century Spanish king known for being a promoter of the arts—is based in Valencia, Spain, where Valencian, a language similar to Catalan, is spoken. With this new partnership with Editorial Nowtilus, the institute will expand its literary mission by awarding and promoting novels in Spanish (and not just in Valencian), allowing for a wider distribution and a larger readership. The winner of the fiction prize receive €30,000 (about US$46,000)  and an original sculpture by the artist Ramón de Soto.

Ediciones Nowtilus’s editorial team also will participate in the institute’s jury selection of manuscripts. “This agreement with the Alfons el Magnànim Institute recognizes and confirms Ediciones Nowtilus’s dedication to developing a contemporary fiction line of the highest literary quality,” said Santos Rodríguez, the publishing house’s editor. “We have found a perfect synergy with those in charge of the prize and we gladly accept the challenge in contributing to the best possible selections, the editorial process, and the distribution of the winning novels.”

Since the prize will alternate yearly between novels in Spanish and Valencian, Nowtilus will translate future Valencian prize winners into Spanish as well. To kick off the agreement, Nowtilus will publish and translate the 2007 Alfons el Magnánim’s prize-winning novel De tot cor  (De todo corazón, or “With All Heart”) by Andreu Martín. Born in Barcelona, Martín is a well-regarded crime writer of such cult classics as Prótesis (“Prosthesis;” Planeta, 1980), Barcelona Connection (Ediciones B, 1988), Bellísimas personas (“Beautiful People;” Algaida, 2000), and the Sonrisa Vertical prize winner Espera, ponte así (“Wait, Like This;” Tusquets, 2001). Several of Martin’s works have been adapted into films, including one by Spanish director Vicente Arande titled Fanny Pelopaja (“Fanny Strawhair”), based on Prótesis. De todo corazón concerns a murder that takes place on the set of celebrity gossip television program.

For Ricard Bellveser, director of the Alfons el Magnánim Institute, “Literary prizes acquire all meaning when they enable the awarded book and author great renown. That’s why the institute has put the promotion and commercialization of the award-winning novels in Editorial Nowtilus’s hands.”

The deadline for submitting unpublished manuscripts originally written in Spanish is June 30; the prize will be awarded in October.

 For more information on the prize and to read the submission guidelines, visit www.alfonselmagnanim.com.