The actress and writer from Valladolid Elvira Minguez has become the leading figure in the Spanish-language literary scene by achieving Spring Novel Award with his work The education of the monsterThe ruling comes at a particularly significant moment in her career, as the performer is also currently vying for her Second Goya Award for his role in the film La cena.
The award-winning novel, which will go on sale on April 15 Available in bookstores throughout Spain, it addresses a chapter rarely explored by Spanish fiction: the emigration of thousands of Spaniards to Germany in the sixties and its consequences on the personal and collective memory of several generations. With this recognition, Mínguez consolidates a literary facet that complements his more than three decades of experience in film.
A leading literary prize in Spanish
The education of the monster It has won the thirtieth edition of the Primavera Novel Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in the Hispanic world. The prize is endowed with 100.000 euros and it is organized annually by the publishing house Espasa and Cultural Area of El Corte Inglés, with the aim of supporting literary creation and reinforcing the role of the novel as a central form of expression in our time.
This edition has received 1.590 original manuscripts from 38 countries, a figure that breaks previous records for the competition. Spain leads in participation with 795 novels, followed by Argentina (280) and Mexico (106), which confirms the weight of Europe and Latin America in narrative in Spanish and the international appeal of the prize.
If you look at the internal map, the The Community of Madrid contributes 179 originalsAndalusia had 92 submissions and Catalonia 63, followed by the Valencian Community with 49. The organization emphasizes that just a few years ago they celebrated reaching 500 submissions and that the current figure reflects the good creative moment for the novel in Spanish and the consolidation of the Primavera Prize as a fixed event on the literary calendar.
This year's jury has been chaired by the writer and academic Carme Riera, accompanied by the authors Antonio Soler and Nativel Preciado —both winners of the prize in previous editions—, as well as by Gervasio Posadas, director of Cultural Affairs at El Corte Inglés, and David Cebrián, editorial director of Espasa. After deliberation in Madrid, the tribunal opted for Mínguez's work, considering it the strongest proposal among the original submissions received.
In its verdict, the jury defines The education of the monster as “a magnificent novel” which, starting from a historical period little addressed in literature—Spanish emigration to Germany—, “It immerses us in a world of silences and suspicions that spans two generations”Espasa has also highlighted the narrative energy of the text and the power with which its female characters are constructed.
A story of three women, three time periods, and an uncomfortable memory
The winning work is structured around three women and three generationsMatilde, Águeda, and Sister Olvido. Through them, Mínguez proposes an immersion in lives marked by emigration, fear, and the weight of silence, with settings that move between Germany and various Spanish cities.
The novel begins in the Matilde's maturity, when the protagonist embarks on a personal quest to reconstruct her mother's story, Águeda, emigrant in Düsseldorf in the early sixties. This journey back leads her to confront a family memory that had remained buried for decades, in a context of Spanish workers who left the country in often precarious conditions.
The story then returns to the Matilde's childhood in ValladolidIn the mid-seventies. The city and its school, run by the enigmatic Sister ForgetfulnessThey live in constant panic due to the attacks of a child rapist which seems impossible to stop. This climate of collective terror serves as the backdrop for the protagonist's emotional education and her understanding of the adult world.
The narrative, which also travels through Madrid, thus links Germany of emigration, provincial Spain during the Transition, and contemporary lifeIn a plot that focuses on the intimate consequences of major social movements, Espasa emphasizes that the book “immerses us in the lives, so recognizable to so many, of women who understood that the commitment to reconstructing memory, both personal and collective, is the only way to confront the evil that threatens us and escape from the 'monster'".
As the author explained, the emigration of his own parents to Germany In the 1960s, largely carried out “illegally,” this migration was at the origin of the literary project. Mínguez set out to reflect this less visible reality, in contrast to the more familiar image of “official” emigration, protected by labor agreements between states. To do so, he combined historical documentation work with memories and autobiographical materials.
Memory as the central focus and the imprint of trauma
In her public statements following the verdict, Elvira Mínguez has insisted that her novel is, above all, “a story about the construction of memory”In his opinion, at the present time "we are obliged to remember and know in order to live," because without this review of the past society is condemned to repeat the same mistakes, "stumbling over the same stone again and again."
The author presents memory as a conflictive terrain, traversed by family secrets, abuses of power, sexual violence, and the wounds of migrationThe “monster” in the title refers both to the specific aggressors and to structures of silence and fear that are passed down from generation to generation, especially affecting the women who are the protagonists of the story.
The jury and publisher's review highlights that the novel combines a very lively narrative rhythm With meticulous attention to emotional detail, the experiences of its protagonists resonate with readers of all ages. This blend of intrigue, intimate drama, and historical exploration has been a key factor in the book's success in the competition.
Another point raised by the court is the way in which the book links individual memory with collective memoryMatilde's search for her mother's past and her own childhood serves as a reflection of a country that has tended to look askance at phenomena such as mass emigration, sexual violence, or abuse in religious settingsand that now begins to put them at the center of the public narrative.
The literary voice of an actress with a long career
Before his foray into narrative, Elvira Minguez She was already a well-known figure in Spanish cinema. Born in Valladolid in 1965, she has been more than three decades dedicated to acting and is considered one of the most respected actresses in the audiovisual field. She made a strong debut in 1994 thanks to Borrowed time, a role that earned her the first of her five Goya Award nominations.
Among his many works, the following stands out: Goya Award for Best Supporting Actress which he won in 2005 for the film Tapas, by José Corbacho and Juan Cruz, set in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. This year she is back in the media spotlight for her role in La cena, film for which She is nominated again for a Goya Award for Best Supporting Actress, in a gala that is held practically at the same time as the announcement of the Primavera Prize.
Throughout his career he has worked with top-level national and international filmmakers, including John Malkovich, Steven Soderbergh and Asghar FarhadiIn addition to participating in numerous film and television productions in Spain, this experience in the audiovisual world decisively influences her writing style, which she herself defines as very visual and focused on the secondary characters, whom he considers the true backbone of the stories.
Her foray into literature came in 2023 with The shadow of the earth, his first novel, which was finalist for the Castilla y León Critics' PrizeHe later adapted this book into an audiovisual format and also directed it, thus strengthening the link between his two creative facets. The education of the monsterIn his second book, Mínguez takes another step in that parallel trajectory and firmly establishes himself in the forefront of the literary field.
When asked about the possible adaptation of her new work to the big screen or a series, the author commented that He didn't write the novel thinking about an audiovisual project.However, he acknowledges that the text "is very visual" and does not rule out the possibility that, if the opportunity arises, it could be adapted for film or television in the future.
An edition marked by the diversity of genres and formats
In addition to announcing the winning work, the prize organizers have offered some data that helps to understand the current state of narrative in Spanish. As they explained David CebriánThis thirtieth edition has seen the arrival of 1.590 manuscripts And, since the creation of the competition in 1997, around 20.000 originals from Spain and Latin America.
One of the striking aspects is the reduction in the average size of novelsBarely 2% of the manuscripts exceed 500 pages, and none reach 1.000, which the jury attributes to a contemporary trend toward more concise and focused stories. A predominance of [the following is also noted:] omniscient narrator (around half of the works), followed very closely by the first persona formula that continues to gain ground in current fiction.
Regarding genres, the Novelty It clearly leads the way, representing around 60% of the texts received. Within this category, the jury highlights the rise of subgenres such as... “ecothriller” and the rural noirclosely linked to concerns about the climate crisis and life in environments far from large cities. historical novel, especially those set during the Civil War and the post-war period, occupy approximately 30%.
They have also gained importance psychological novels, family sagas, and dystopian or fantasy fictionwhich are gaining more prominence each year. In this diverse context, the choice of The education of the monster It highlights the jury's interest in proposals that, without sacrificing narrative tension, focus on rescuing less visible chapters of recent European history.
The list of winners of the Primavera Prize, which Elvira Mínguez is now nominated for, includes prominent names in Spanish literature. The 2025 winner was Vanessa montfort to the toffanaa historical mystery novel set in 17th-century Rome, while in a previous edition the award went to the journalist Luis García-Rey by LoorThroughout its three decades of history, the prize has also recognized authors such as Rosa MonteroFernando Marías, Fernando Savater, or Máximo Huerta, among others.
With the granting of the Primavera Novel Prize awarded to Elvira MínguezThe competition reinforces its commitment to works that combine literary ambition, dedication to memory, and the ability to connect with a wide range of readers. The education of the monster It is shaping up to be one of the standout titles of the year., both because of the author's background and the relevance of the topics she addresses, from Spanish emigration to Germany to the intimate traces of trauma and the power of memory to try to heal wounds that have remained in the shadows for too long.
