Premio Planeta, top Spanish language book prize, revealed on Thursday

(Relaxnews)

The 10 finalists for the 58th edition of the Premio Planeta (Planeta Prize), given to the best original novel written in Spanish, were announced on October 8. The award will be conferred on October 15 at a gala at the Catalonia Palace of Congresses in Barcelona, Spain.

The €601,000 grand prize is the second-richest in the literary world, trailing only the Nobel Prize for Literature. Even the second-place purse, €150,000, is nearly three times the jackpot of many other prestigious book awards.

A total of 492 novels from around the world were submitted: including 219 from Spain, 61 from South America (20 from Argentina alone), 51 from North America (25 from the US and Mexico apiece), 11 from Central America, 10 total from European countries France, Switzerland, the UK, Germany and Italy, one from Japan, for the first time in the award's history, and elsewhere.

The award, given by Spanish publishing giant Grupo Planeta, was presented in 2008 to Fernando Savater for his novel La hermanad de la buena suerte.

The jury is composed of 6 members, five hailing from Spain and one from Uruguay.

The ceremony will be broadcast beginning at 11:40 p.m. on the internet at: www.editorial.planeta.es

Planeta Prize Shortlist

Concierto para Leah by Maira Barbará León

Imposturas virtuales by Marfisa Bradamante (pseudonym)

Así sea (Aché to) by M. Carme Melchor

Al oeste del este by Blas Bolarín (pseudonym)

No sé tu nombre by Jan Green (pseudonym)

El faro del unicornio by Francisco Melero Maíllo

Pobre corazón by Diotima Jelinek (pseudonym)

Vendiendo bombas Atómicas by J. J. López-Covarrubias (pseudonym)

El biaje by Virginia Évora (pseudonym)

Bodegón con Manuela, Don Quijote y la Muerte by Rodolfo Duarte