The Premio Biblioteca Breve is a literary award given annually by the publisher Seix Barral (now part of

Grupo Planeta Planeta Corporación, S.R.L., doing business as Grupo Planeta (), is a Spanish mass media conglomerate operating in Spain, Portugal, France and Latin America. It is headquartered in Madrid. Editorial Planeta, founded in 1949, was the seed of Gru ...

) to an unpublished novel in the Spanish language. Its prize is €30,000 and publication of the winning work. It is delivered in February, to a work from the preceding year.

History

On 14 June 1958, a jury comprising literary critics Josep Maria Castellet and José María Valverde, and editors (editorial director), Juan Petit (literary director) and

Carlos Barral Carlos Barral i Agesta (1928–1989) was a Spanish poet, considered (along with Jaime Gil de Biedma) to be one of the greatest poets of the so-called generation of the 1950s. He helped to establish the Formentor Group and their literary awards ...

(director of the collection), gave the inaugural award in

Sitges ; , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, renowned worldwide for Sitges Film Festival, its film festival, Carnival, and LGBTQ culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is know ...

, Barcelona. As stated by members of the jury, it was intended to encourage young writers and the renewal of Spanish literature. Due to the death of Juan Petit in January 1964 (replaced as literary director by Gabriel Ferrater), the exile of José María Valverde to Canada in 1967, and the death of Víctor Seix in October of that year, the jury was joined by ,

Luis Goytisolo Luis Goytisolo Gay (born 17 March 1935) is a Spanish Catalan writer in the Spanish language. He is best known for his tetralogy ''Antagony'', which was published between 1973 and 1981. Goytisolo is a member of the Real Academia Española. Caree ...

, and

Juan García Hortelano Juan García Hortelano (14 February 1928 – 3 April 1992) was a Spanish writer. He was born in Madrid. His father was a doctor. When the Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the ...

for subsequent editions. The bases were also modified: for a few years the award took Petit's name as a tribute. In the same way, the Spanish political situation dictated that, in some editions, eligibility was extended to any Iberian Romance language, although no works in Catalan or Portuguese were awarded. The 1971 edition's jury comprised Luis Goytisolo,

Juan Rulfo Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo (; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel ''Pedro Páramo'', and the ...

, Joan Ferraté i Soler, and

Pere Gimferrer Pere Gimferrer Torrens (; born 22 June 1945) is a Spanish poet, translator and novelist. He is twice winner of Spain's Premio Nacional de Poesía (National Poetry Prize). He was born in Barcelona in 1945. He writes both in Castilian and Catal ...

, with Guillermo Cabrera Infante joining in 1972. However, in 1973 the award ceased to be given due to numerous internal factors (dissensions within the publisher) and external factors (problems with censorship). In 1998, Basilio Baltasar, the new literary director of Seix Barral (by this time part of

), decided to reconvene the prize, with the aim of recovering the spirit with which it was born, trying to recognize both Spanish and Latin American authors.

First era winners (1958–1972)

* 1958 – ''Las afueras'' by

(Spain) * 1959 – ''Nuevas amistades'' by

(Spain) * 1960 – Declared vacant; finalists were ''Encerrados con un solo juguete'' by

Juan Marsé Juan Marsé Carbó (8 January 1933 – 18 July 2020) was a Spanish novelist, journalist, and screenwriter who used Spanish as his literary language. In 2008, he was awarded the Cervantes Prize, "the Spanish-language equivalent" to the Nobel P ...

(Spain), ''La criba'' by

Daniel Sueiro Daniel Sueiro (1931-1986) was a Spanish author and journalist. He was born in La Coruña and died in Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million i ...

(Spain), and ''Los extraordinarios'' by Ana Mairena (Mexico) * 1961 – ''Dos días de setiembre'' by

José Manuel Caballero José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

(Spain) * 1962 – ''

The Time of the Hero ''The Time of the Hero'' (Original title: ''La ciudad y los perros'', literally "The City and the Dogs") is a 1963 novel by Peruvian writer and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. It was Vargas Llosa's first novel and is set among the cadets at ...

'' by

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (28 March 1936 – 13 April 2025) was a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and politician. Vargas Llosa was one of the most significant Latin American novelists and essayists a ...

(Peru) * 1963 – ' by

Vicente Leñero Vicente Leñero Otero (June 9, 1933 – December 3, 2014) was a Mexican novelist, journalist, and playwright. He wrote numerous books, stories, and plays, including a theatrical adaptation of Oscar Lewis's ''The Children of Sanchez (film), The Chi ...

(Mexico) * 1964 – ''Vista de amanecer en el trópico'' by Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Cuba) * 1965 – ' by Juan Marsé (Spain) ** Finalist: ''

Betrayed by Rita Hayworth ''Betrayed by Rita Hayworth'' () is a 1968 novel by the Argentine novelist Manuel Puig Juan Manuel Puig Delledonne (December 28, 1932 – July 22, 1990), commonly called Manuel Puig, was an Argentine author. Among his best-known novels are ...

'' by

Manuel Puig Juan Manuel Puig Delledonne (December 28, 1932 – July 22, 1990), commonly called Manuel Puig, was an Argentine author. Among his best-known novels are '' La traición de Rita Hayworth'' ('' Betrayed by Rita Hayworth'', 1968), ''Boquitas pin ...

(Argentina) * 1966 – Not given * 1967 – ''

A Change of Skin ''A Change of Skin'' (Spanish: ''Cambio de piel'') is a 1967 novel written by Carlos Fuentes about a Mexican writer and his Jewish American wife. Plot This is the story about a frustrated Mexican writer named Javier, and his Jewish American wi ...

'' by

Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), '' The Old Gringo'' (1985) and '' Christop ...

(Mexico) ** Finalist: ''El mercurio'' by (Spain) * 1968 – ''País portátil'' by

Adriano González León Adriano González León (Valera, Trujillo State, 14 November 1931 - Caracas, 12 January 2008) was a Venezuelan writer who is known in his country for the novel ''País Portátil'' (1968), widely regarded as the premier Venezuelan novel of the lat ...

(Venezuela) * 1969 – ''Una meditación'' by Juan Benet * 1970 – Due to internal problems at the publisher, no award was given in this edition. It would have gone to '' The Obscene Bird of Night'' by

José Donoso José Manuel Donoso Yáñez (5 October 1924 – 7 December 1996), known as José Donoso, was a Chilean writer, journalist and professor. He lived most of his life in Chile, although he spent many years in self-imposed exile in Mexico, the Unite ...

(Chile). * 1971 – ''Sonámbulo del sol'' by Nivaria Tejera (Cuba) * 1972 – ''La circuncisión del señor solo'' by José Leyva (Spain)

Second era winners (1999–present)

Notes

References

External links

Premio Biblioteca Breve
at

{{Authority control 1958 establishments in Spain 1973 disestablishments in Spain 1998 establishments in Spain Awards disestablished in 1973 Awards established in 1958 Awards established in 1998 Spanish literary awards