The newly created Aena Prize for Hispanic American Narrative It has taken its first major step: the five works that will compete for a prize of one million euros, the highest amount in the world for a published book award, have been announced. The announcement of these finalists has stirred the Spanish and Latin American publishing scene, both because of the monetary value and the literary ambition of the project.
The selected titles, published in Spain during 2025, combine novels, autofiction, and short storiesand come from authors with extensive careers. Two Spaniards and three Latin Americans make up a list that seeks to balance prestige, geographical diversity and powerful narrative proposals, in a prize that aspires to become a benchmark comparable to the Booker or the Goncourt in the Hispanic world.
A million-dollar prize for narrative in Spanish
The Aena Prize for Hispanic American Narrative was born with a a prize of one million euros for the winning workIn addition, each of the four finalists will receive a prize of 30.000 euros. This is the world's highest-paying award for a published book, placing it on par with the most prestigious literary prizes internationally.
Driven by Aena (Spanish Airports and Air Navigation), a majority state-owned company with a stake in a 51% by the Spanish StateThe prize is not linked to any specific publisher. This editorial independence aims to reinforce the idea that it is not a disguised advance, but a direct reward for the chosen book and its authors, who will continue to receive their royalties. usual royalties on sales.
In addition to the one million euros for the winner, Aena has reserved an extra prize, valued at more than one million euros for the mass purchase of copies of the finalist works. These books will be distributed in Spanish airports, libraries, schools and other public institutions of the cities where the company operates, with the intention of significantly expanding its visibility and presence among readers.
The ceremony at which the verdict will be announced will be held on April 8th in BarcelonaThe winner will be announced after a final jury meeting that will take place that same day. A press conference with the finalist authors is scheduled for the day before, also in Barcelona, in a format reminiscent of major international awards.
The five books vying for the award
The list of finalists includes five very well-known names in contemporary Spanish-language narrative, with already established careers and prior presence in international awards and lists. These are:
- "Now and at the hour", by Héctor Abad Faciolince (Colombia), published by Alfaguara.
- "Martian", by Nona Fernández (Chile), published by Penguin Random House / Literatura Random House.
- "The Illusionists", by Marcos Giralt Torrente (Spain), in the Anagrama catalog.
- "The good evil", by Samanta Schweblin (Argentina), published by Seix Barral in Spain.
- "Canon of the camera obscura", by Enrique Vila-Matas (Spain), also published by Seix Barral.
The list combines two Spanish authors and three Latin American authorsunderscoring the transatlantic scope of the award. At the same time, it highlights the catalogs of major groups such as Penguin Random House and Planeta, together with the independent label Anagrama, now part of the Feltrinelli Group but with a very recognizable brand in the Hispanic world.
Overall, the following have been selected two novels of a more classical style (including "Martian"), two works of autofiction or memoir ("Now and in the Hour" and "The Illusionists") and a volume of short stories ("The good evil"). With this, the prize leaves the door open to both fiction and narrative non-fiction, as long as they are works of literary prose far removed from essay, poetry or theater.
All the finalist authors have a significant track record: from national awards and critical acclaim to nominations for Booker and the National Book AwardIn the case of some of his earlier works, one of the stated objectives of the prize is, however, that in future editions less predictable books, and not just the year's big titles, can also be considered.
Rosa Montero and a top-level jury
The presidency of the jury falls to the Spanish writer Rosa Montero, who was in charge of announcing the finalists at an event held in the La Mistral bookstore, in MadridAlong with her, the journalist also spoke Jesus Garcia Calero, one of the jury secretaries, and the scouts or pre-selectors Nuria Azancot y Antonio Martínez Asensio, responsible for an initial screening of books published in 2025.
In addition to Montero, the literary jury includes Pilar Adón, Luis Alberto de Cuenca, José Carlos Llop, Jorge Fernández Díaz, Leila Guerriero and Élmer MendozaIt is a mixed panel in which Spanish, Argentinian and a Mexican representative coexist, with the intention of ensuring a pluralistic view of narrative in Spanish.
Montero has insisted on the idea that the prize is “A joy for the sector, for publishers, for writers and for readers”He emphasized that the substantial prize money serves to place it in a highly visible position from the outset. At the same time, he acknowledged that the challenge lies in ensuring the quality of the winning books lives up to that million-dollar sum and that the award ultimately carries real weight in the literary world. knowledge of Spanish literature worldwide.
The writer has also emphasized the inevitably... subjective of any literary prizeIf the jury members or the shortlist were changed, the final list of books would likely be different. Even so, he maintained that the current selection is "undisputed" in terms of quality and relevance within the context of 2025's output.
How the finalists are chosen: scouts, lists and deliberations
The mechanism of the Aena Prize for Latin American Narrative is designed to combine specialized readings and collective decisionIn the first phase, a group of ten journalists and professionals from the book world develops personal lists of ten titles, ordered from highest to lowest score, based on narrative works published in Spain throughout 2025.
Among these pre-selection candidates are names like Jordy Amat (director of the cultural supplement) babelia from El País), Nuria Azancot (The Cultural), Verónica Chiaravalli (La Nación, Argentina), Paula Corroto (El Confidencial), Lara Hermoso (RTVE), Anna Maria Church (The Newspaper, The Cultural), Daniel Marquínez (Gabo Festival), Antonio Martínez Asensio (Cadena SER), Leandro Perez (Zenda magazine) and Karina Sainz Borgo (A B C).
These initial lists are then passed on to the jury, who add up the scores to determine the five highest-rated titlesFrom there, the books enter a phase of more intense reading and discussion among the jury members themselves, who also reserve the right to propose an additional title that has not been included in the pre-selection, if they consider it necessary.
This system, which combines the verdict of critics and journalists with the judgment of writers and specialists, aims to strengthen the independence of the award and to prevent it from being captured by a single sensibility or group interests. The composition of the jury and the scouts will be renewed in each edition, so that the award is not associated with a single stable circle of names.
In this first meeting, the final deliberations will take place at a luncheon in Barcelona on the same day. April 8The winning book will be announced on that date. The organization insists that there will be no final decision or prior agreement until then, in order to preserve the dynamism of the debate.
Objectives and scope of the Aena Award
Beyond the monetary value, the new award is conceived as a tool for “to promote literary creation, encourage reading and strengthen the link between literature and society”, as explained by the president of Aena, Maurice LucenaThe company frames the award within its Sustainability Strategy 2021-2030, with the idea that culture should be part of their social responsibility commitments.
The scope of the award is twofold: on the one hand, it seeks to recognize the best narrative in Spanish published in Spain, whether written directly in Spanish or translated from one of the co-official languages; on the other hand, it aspires to to build bridges between Spain and Latin America, relying on alliances with entities such as the Gabo Foundation and Vargas Llosa Chair, who collaborate in dissemination and related activities.
Lucena has pointed to awards such as the French Goncourt, the British Booker or American Pulitzer PrizeThese are high-profile awards that, without requiring large (and in some cases symbolic) prizes, help to put books and authors on the map. In Aena's case, the commitment is based both on the amount of the prize and on a visibility strategy which includes the bulk purchase of copies.
The company president has argued that the figure of one million euros is intended to... guarantee a certain degree of economic autonomy to the winning authorThis would allow him to dedicate himself more fully to his next project, while also making the award's name easily recognizable to the general public. The intention, he insisted, is not to compete with or "detract from" other awards, but rather to add another piece to the Spanish-language literary ecosystem.
The finalist works, one by one
Within the diversity of styles and registers, the five selected works share a strong memorial dimension, political or intimateas well as a remarkable literary ambition. Each one approaches contemporary narrative in Spanish from a different angle.
"Now and in the hour", by Héctor Abad Faciolince
The Colombian writer Hector Abad Faciolince He returns to the realm of memory and testimony with a work marked by the direct experience of the war in Ukraine"Now and in the Hour" reconstructs the author's 2023 trip to that country as part of a peace and culture mission, a trip that turned into tragedy when a Russian missile hits pizzeria in Kramatorsk where he dined with other writers.
The Ukrainian writer died in that attack. Victoria Amelina, with whom Abad had exchanged seats shortly before the explosion. From that point on, the book becomes a new investigation into the devastating effects of violence, survivor's guilt, and the need to give voice to those who can no longer tell their story, in line with what the author explored in his best-known work, "The Oblivion We Will Be".
The chronicle combines an intimate perspective with the observation of a country at war, and questions the role literature can play in the face of destruction. In the context of the prize, the text embodies the aspect closest to... literary nonfiction, without ever abandoning aesthetic ambition.
"Marciano", by Nona Fernández
The Chilean Nona FernandezKnown for novels such as "Space Invaders" and for her work on the memory of the dictatorship, she takes her exploration of the recent history of Chile in "Martian." The work is based on the author's long conversations with Mauricio Hernández Norambuena, a member of the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front, involved in the attempted assassination of Augusto Pinochet in 1986 and in a notorious prison escape.
The book deliberately crosses memory, documentary research and imaginationAnd it plays with the sensation of moving in a zone where time and space seem to distort. The narrator visits Hernández in prison to interrogate not only his biography but also the mechanisms of militancy, political violence, and the personal consequences of armed struggle.
The result is a overtly political narrativeBut far from being a pamphlet, it recovers a little-known part of Chilean history and connects it to very current questions about justice, memory, and the representation of the past. The text lies somewhere between a novel and a testimonial chronicle, with a tone that maintains Fernández's distinctive style.
"The Illusionists", by Marcos Giralt Torrente
The Spanish Marcos Giralt TorrenteThe grandson of the writer Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, returns in "The Illusionists" to the autobiographical vein he already explored in "Time of Life," winner of the National Narrative Prize in 2011. Here the focus falls on the history of his maternal grandparents and the Torrente family, with special attention to the figure of his mother and his uncles.
The story begins in the summer of 1931, when the grandparents meet in a coastal town of Galiciaand extends over several decades. From this starting point, the author reflects on family memory, emotional inheritances, economic insecurity, and the fragility of relationships, in a text that is presented as a novel but draws directly from personal experience.
Giralt Torrente has said in interviews that growing up in a family so dedicated to culture was both a "richness" and a unstable ground for a child, marked by economic insecurity. "The Illusionists" transforms these tensions into narrative material, with a sober and precise prose that has already garnered other accolades, such as the Francisco Umbral Award for Book of the Year.
"The Good Evil," by Samanta Schweblin
Argentina Samantha Schweblin, considered one of the most influential short story writers of her generation, brings together in "The Good Evil" a series of stories that move on the border between the everyday and the unsettlingThe characters, fragile and very human, face that moment when something strange bursts into their lives and irreversibly disorients them.
This volume brings back recurring themes from Schweblin's work, such as loneliness, fear, lack of communication, and invisible forces that seem to govern our decisions. Added to these are reflections on death, guilt, family, and forms of care, in scenarios that, while remaining recognizable, become distorted until they acquire an almost fantastical tone.
"The Good Evil" has been one of the books most cited in the best of the year lists in 2025 and confirms the international stature of the author, who has already won the National Book Award for Best Translated Work for "Seven Empty Houses" and has been a Booker Prize finalist several times. In the context of the Aena Prize, her presence introduces the only story collection among the finalist works.
"Canon of the Camera Obscura", by Enrique Vila-Matas
The Barcelonan Enrique Vila-MatasOne of the great names in contemporary Spanish narrative, proposes in "Canon of the Darkroom" a metaliterary game taken to the extreme. The protagonist, Vidal Escabia, is tasked with creating a literary canon “displaced and untimely”, far removed from official lists, from a selection of 71 books accumulated in a dark room of his house.
Each day, the character randomly chooses one of those volumes, extracts a a fragment that will feed into his personal canon He is so affected by his reading that his life and writing are altered. Unable to stick to simple explanations, he gets lost in digressions, free associations, and anecdotes that constantly divert the central thread.
The novel functions as a reflection on the act of reading and writing, the development of one's own taste, and the dialogue with literary traditionsWith references to authors such as Robert Walser, Kafka, Joseph Roth, and Carlo Emilio Gadda, the text, true to Vila-Matas's style, is presented as an eccentric artifact, full of humor, irony, and self-referential turns that question what it means to establish a canon today.
With these five books in contention, the new literary award promoted by Aena debuts with a selection that combines Personal memory, political narrative, formal experimentation, and a critical perspective on the presentIt remains to be seen which title will ultimately take home the million euros, but the economic and symbolic stake has already placed the prize at the center of literary debate in Spain and Latin America, and has opened up a clear expectation about its ability to become an unmissable annual event for readers, publishers and authors.
