Carlos Granés Maya wins the Isabel Polanco Essay Prize for his work El puño invisible. Arte, revolución y un siglo de cambios

Carlos Granés Maya is the winner of the Third Prize Isabel Polanco International Essay. The prize winner was announced on Monday October 10, 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The jury, chaired by Fernando Savater and composed of Héctor Abad Faciolince, José Balza, Rafael Rojas, Margarita Valencia and Gonzalo Celorio (the latter acting permanent secretary) honored Granés Maya's work for "the importance of the issue it addresses and the thesis that it proposes, for the breadth and depth of the documentation underlying the work, the creativity employed and the quality of his writing - rich, engaging, passionate. "

The jury also noted that the work "traces the narrative of the Western avant-gardes of the twentieth century, from Futurism to postmodernity. With cinematographic-like mastery, Granés Maya offers the reader, scene by scene, the chief episodes, some of which were true scandals, that modern art has passed through throughout its history."

The prize, worth $100,000 and a commemorative sculpture by artist Martín Chirino, seeks to recognize and highlight the importance of the essay as a genre of thought and knowledge. This year, 146 unpublished manuscripts were received from the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The theme of this second edition, which closed on July 15, 2011 - was at the author's discretion and the works submitted had to contain one or more literary essays grouped together in a single book.

The awards ceremony and presentation of the winning book will be held in November as part of the Guadalajara International Book Fair. The book, published by Taurus, will have a global distribution in Latin America, Spain and the United States and is planned for the month of December.

The Guadalajara International Book Fair, in collaboration with the Fundacion Santillana, established the Isabel Polanco Essay Prize in June 2008 in honor of the late former CEO of Grupo Santillana who strove to build links with Latin America and gave an enormous boost to the activity of the publishing group. Last year's award went to Humberto López Morales (Cuba, 1936) for his work La andadura del español por el mundo.

Further information

Press Dossier (in Spanish)