Literary awards given in Barcelona
A large number of literary, cultural and editorial awards are announced and presented every year in Barcelona in recognition of poetry, fiction or plays, as well as translations, publishers, book shops or public figures who help support, promote and publicise local and international literature and culture.
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NADAL
Presented by the publishing house Destino since 1944, when the winner was the writer Carmen Laforet for her novel Nada. Winners since then have included names such as Miguel Delibes (1947), Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio (1955), Carmen Martín Gaite (1957), Ana María Matute (1959), Francisco Umbral (1975), Manuel Vicent (1986), Juan José Millás (1990), Rosa Regàs (1994), Lorenzo Silva (2000), Andrés Trapiello (2003), José C. Vales (2015) and Víctor del Árbol (2016). The award is presented every year on the evening of 5th January, at the same event as the Josep Pla award ceremony.
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PEPE CARVALHO
The Pepe Carvalho award has been presented since 2006 in memory of the local author Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and his famous character Pepe Carvalho, the detective playing the leading role in the series of crime novels Carvalho. The Pepe Carvalho award is presented to works and authors of national and international noir novels. Francisco González Ledesma (2006), Michael Connelly (2009), Ian Rankin (2010), Andrea Camilleri (2014), Alicia Giménez Bartlett (2015) and Donna Leon (2016) are just a few of the winners of this award.
PLANETA
Created in 1952 by José Manuel Lara to promote authors writing in Spanish, this is the most lucrative award in the whole of Spain. Award winners include Ana María Matute (1954), Ramón J. Sender (1969), Jorge Semprún (1977), Juan Marsé (1978), Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (1979), Terenci Moix (1986), Gonzalo Torrente Ballester (1988), Mario Vargas Llosa (1993), Camilo José Cela (1994), Maruja Torres (2000), Álvaro Pombo (2006) and Eduardo Mendoza (2010).
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RAMON LLULL DE LES LLETRES CATALANES
The Ramon Llull award has been presented by the publishing house Planeta since 1981, and jointly with the Government of Andorra since 2006. The aim of the award is to promote and publicise literary creations in Catalan language. The award is open to both works of fiction and non-fiction. Award winners include Joan Perucho (1981), Pere Gimferrer (1983), Terenci Moix (1992), Lluís Anton Baulenas (2005) and Vicenç Villatoro (2010).
RBA DE NOVELA NEGRA
The publishing group RBA presents the international RBA award to crime fiction presented in English or in Spanish. The Barcelona local Francisco González Ledesma (2007), the Italian Andrea Camilleri (2008), the Scotchmen Philip Kerr (2009) and Ian Rankin (2016), the North Americans Harlan Coben (2010), Patricia Cornwell (2011), Michael Connelly (2012) and Don Winslow (2015), the Icelandic Arnaldur Indridason (2013) and the British Lee Child (2014) form part of the group of award winners.
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SANT JOAN DE LITERATURA CATALANA
Established in 1981 by Obra Social de Caixa Sabadell, the Sant Joan award continues to this day thanks to support from Fundació Antigues Caixes Catalanes and the BBVA bank. It is one of the most lucrative awards for Catalan literature and is presented to an unpublished work of literary prose. Carme Riera (2016), Najat El Hachmi (2015), Baltasar Porcel (2008), Valentí Puig (2006), Toni Sala (2004) and Miquel Bauçà (1989) are some of the award winners.
SANT JORDI DE NOVEL·LA
Presented by Òmnium Cultural and by Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana, the Sant Jordi award was established in 1960 and is given to an original, unpublished work written in Catalan. The novels of Pere Calders (1963), Mercè Rodoreda (1966) and Jaume Cabré (1983) have been awarded over its long history, among many others.
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TERESA CUNILLÉ
The Propietat of the Teatre Romea, with the collaboration of the Institut del Teatre, announces the Teresa Cunillé Award in two categories: research (for the best work on Catalan theatre history) and dramaturgy (for the best adaptation project of an existing text or the creation of an unpublished original text linked to the rescue of the historical heritage of Catalan theatre). The call, held since 2019, has a biennial nature.
TRAJECTÒRIA
Since 1997, the Trajectòria award has been presented during Catalan Book Week “every year to a professional of Catalan culture who has stood out his or her area”. Recognition has been given, among others, to the literary careers of Miquel Martí i Pol (2000), Quim Monzó (2007), Maria Barbal (2010), Carme Riera (2014) and the translator Anna Casasses (2016).
TUSQUETS DE NOVELA
Created in 2005 and with the sponsorship of Fondo Antonio López Lamadrid, which forms part of Fundación José Manuel Lara, the Tusquets award is presented every year to an unpublished work in Spanish. It has been won by authors such as Rafael Reig (2010), Fernando Aramburu (2011) and Juan Trejo (2014), among others.