Hernán Rivera Letelier wins the 13th Annual Alfaguara Literary Prize

The Chilean author Hernán Rivera Letelier has been awarded the Alfaguara Literary Prize 2010, endowed with $ 175,000 (about ¤ 129,279) in prize money and a commemorative sculpture by Martín Chirino, for his novel El arte de la resurrección, which was presented to the competition under the pseudonym Manuel Madero.

The jury, chaired by Manuel Vicent and which included Soledad Puértolas, Gerardo Herrero, Juan Miguel Salvador, Juan Gabriel Vásquez and Juan González, praised the novel that is "set in the deserts of Chile in the early decades of the twentieth century, and which follows the life of a mystic, the Christ of Elqui". The jury lauded "the novel's narrative force as well as the creation of a striking personal landscape through humor, surrealism, and tragedy".

The winner of the 13th Annual Alfaguara Literary Prize was announced at the Grupo Santillana head office in Madrid

A total of 539 unpublished manuscripts, written in Spanish, had been submitted for the 13th Annual Alfaguara Literary Prize. Of these, 194 came from Spain, followed by Mexico (102), Argentina (100), Colombia (34) the USA (25), Ecuador (23), Peru (17) and Chile (14), among others.

Further information

Press release of the 13th Annual Alfaguara Literary Prize