Olga Merino has earned a distinguished honor from a respected language academy, taking home Best Literary Work for her novel La forastera (Alfaguara) at the ceremony marking the 19th edition of the event. The celebration was a gala that valued eloquence and restraint, featuring a performance of Juan Mayorga’s Silence by Blanca Portillo. The performance underscored the recurring concern with what is spoken and what remains unspoken, a motif that threads through Merino’s acclaimed body of work, which often probes the spaces between spoken words and hidden meanings.
In accepting the award, Merino spoke of gratitude and felt that the audience shared in a long-standing tradition. She described the sense of belonging she finds in a house dedicated to the Spanish language, a place she has cherished since childhood. La forastera is celebrated for its homage to the richness of language, inviting readers to consider how a single word can illuminate a vast landscape of ideas and feelings. A continual thread in her writing is the homage to a Spain whose literary voice has been shaped by influential authors from history. Her remarks underscored language as a vessel for history, memory, and identity, an idea echoed by many of Spain’s prominent writers who have contributed to the nation’s literary conversation.
The prize for La forastera included a commemorative medal and a 20,000 euro award, presented alongside a medal capturing the moment of recognition. The novel centers on Angie, a young person whose life once brimmed with excess gradually becomes a quiet, reflective existence in a southern village. To neighbors, Angie appears eccentric and elusive, often seen in the company of dogs. The story unfolds within an old family home, where whispers of the past mingle with present rhythms, guiding readers through a landscape where memory and reality blur.
Within a broader literary framework, Merino has published other works such as Red ashes, Paper spurs, and Dogs barking in the basement. Her short fiction has received recognition, including the Vargas Llosa NH Short Story Award in 2006 for a tale that weaves rules and constraints into a larger meditation on human nature. Beyond fiction, Merino contributes to a prominent newspaper, delivering columns on current affairs and literature. Her ongoing project offers a serialized reflection on the craft of writing and memory, shedding light on her experiences as a foreign correspondent and offering readers a window into post-Soviet Moscow and the enduring power of storytelling.
Bollain, Maixabel, and a Voice for Human Connection
In the sphere of film and screenwriting recognition, Isabel Burdiel’s scholarly work on Emilia Pardo Bazán drew praise, as did the Paraguayan script award presented through the collaboration of RAE-Borau. Marcelo Martinessi earned distinction for Heirs (2020), while Icíar Bollaín and Isa Campo received honors for Maixabel (2022). The latter project, directed by Bollaín, has been described as a meditation on dialogue and silence, focusing on how people use words to bridge gaps and foster mutual understanding, while recognizing that what remains unsaid can carry significant weight. Maixabel Lasa’s narrative centers on a deep and painful relationship with the person who killed her husband, a real-life encounter with violence that invites reflection on forgiveness, memory, and the impact of language in healing and reconciliation.