The cartoonist and scriptwriter Candela Sierra (Ronda, Málaga) has been recognized with the National Comic Award for his book You know it even though I haven't told you., published by Astiberri. The ruling of the Ministry of Culture brings to the forefront a work that portrays, with sharp humor, the springs of communication in our daily lives.
The award, endowed with 30.000 Euros, is one of the most relevant comics in Spain and comes to consolidate an author who had already been attracting attention for her critical view and creative use of comic resources. ninth art.
Reasons for the jury and keys to the work
The jury emphasizes that You know it even though I haven't told you. It stands out for granting a notable conceptual weight ideas through precise narrative and graphic choices. With a humor that borders on acid, Sierra examines everyday misunderstandings, coldness in relationships and that tendency to go with the flow without questioning it, all with a narrative that keeps the pulse from beginning to end.
It is not a linear story with typical protagonists, but rather a mosaic of short stories which, when put together, draw a mirror of our interactions: we listen half-heartedly, we look at our phones before we look at the person, and we read diagonally. This fragmented structure, resolved with rhythm and clarity, invites you to hold on to the book.
The author handles a versatile color palette and a battery of Graphic resources which he takes advantage of as each situation demands, with metalinguistic games integrated into the action and echoes of European avant-garde comics. Thematically, the narcissism, infantilism and lack of empathy, but also flashes of collective lucidity.
This balance between wit and analytical accuracy is, for the jury, one of the reasons why the work is so addictive and believable, however absurd it may seem at times. The reading flows like a carousel of scenes that move you without falling into moralizing.
In statements to different media, Sierra has explained that the book collects his own and other people's feelings, a crossroads of personal experiences and social observation that, he accepted, not everyone will read with the same empathy.
On a formal level, there are affinities with contemporary European authors, such as Brecht Evens or Olivier Schrauwen, but passed through Sierra's own sieve, which squeezes the possibilities of color as an emotional tool and framing to modulate the tone.
Training, career and other recognitions
Born in Ronda in 1990Sierra holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Granada. She has furthered her studies and residencies at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Université Laval in Quebec, the European School of Image in Angoulême, and the House of Authors from that same French city. He was also a resident of the Antonio Gala Foundation for Young Creators.
His first graphic novel, Roundabout (Andana Gráfica, 2023), obtained the Valencia Graphic Novel AwardIn animation, he co-directed with Riki Blanco Lingua et Veritate, for which he received the Filmin Award and the award for best animated film at the Notodofilmfest (2018).
With You know it even though I haven't told you. (Astiberri, 2024), Sierra confirmed her leap in quality: she was nominated for the Miguel Gallardo award for emerging author at Cómic Barcelona and received recognition from ACD Comic as an Emerging Author, before achieving this National.
The recognition also comes at a time when various official reports point to the precariousness of the sector, so the award functions both as a symbolic boost and material support to continue developing long-term projects.
Author's reaction and view of the present
Sierra has confessed that the news reached him by surprise, between joy and dismay, which she immediately communicated to her closest friends and editor. She takes the recognition as a push to continue exploring stories and formats, and is already working on new proposals.
In her vision of reality, the author moves between criticism of certain human misery and the recognition of gestures of collective firmness. He cited recent examples of citizen mobilization as evidence that, in extreme situations, a portion of society reacts and demands attention.
True to her interest in the everyday, she explains that she feels more comfortable observing the world around her, where humor, irony and visual play allow her to stretch the mirror without giving up the empathy as well as.
The jury and the winners of the National
The body that proposed the award was chaired by María José Gálvez (General Directorate of Books, Comics and Reading) and had as vice president Jesus Gonzalez. Among the members who participated were, among others, Ulises Ponce López (AACE), Mikel Santos “Belatz” (FADIP), Rafael Arias García (CEGAL), Francisco Javier Serra Recio “Xavi Serra” (Association of Comic Critics and Promoters), Ester Salguero Amaya (APCómic), Sara Jornet Blasco “Sara Jotabé”, Alfonso Albacete Carreira (RABASF), María del Mar Corral Martínez (FAPE), Graciela Padilla Castillo (UCM), as well as Maria Medem and the winner of the previous edition, bea lemma.
Sierra joins a list of winners with leading figures such as Paco Roca, Ana Penyas, Javier Olivares y Santiago Garcia, Miguelanxo Prado, Cristina Durán and Miguel Ángel Giner, Rayco Pulido, Paco Sordo, Borja González o Max, among other prominent names.
This year's decision recognizes a work of sour humor and lucidity formal that connects with the most current concerns about how we relate and communicate, while strengthening Candela Sierra's position as one of the authors to follow in the Spanish comic scene.