This year, the most prestigious of the Zenda Awards was awarded to the Catalan writer Enrique Vila-Matas, “a creator who has shaken up literary conventions and routines for half a century”, who this year celebrates his second edition, after a first of all … the highest in January. The author of “Abridged History of Portable Literature” or “Bartleby and Company”, who has just published “Canon of Camera Obscura”, leads with his Zenda de Honor the broad and selective list of winners, whose names were announced by Arturo Pérez-Reverte this Thursday at Café Varela in Madrid.
Paco Cerdà (Genovés, Valencia; 1985) won the Zenda de Narrativa for ‘Presentes’ (Alfaguara), “a non-fiction novel that functions as a kind of panopticon where it is possible to guess and live in the Spain of 1936”, according to the jury’s opinion. The Zenda de la Poésie was won by Chantal Maillard (Brussels, 1951) with her “Complete Poetry”. 1988-2022′ (Tusquets), for “a writing that shakes and animates in its decantation, in its rigor and in the resounding capacity to offer the reader an unusual aesthetic and emotional adventure”. Anna Caballé (Hospitalet de Llobregat, 1954) received the Zenda de Ensayo for being able to decipher “Intima Atlántida”. Life of Rosa Chacel’ (Taurus) “the keys to one of the most complex personalities of 20th century Spanish culture”.
The Zenda Prize for Children and Youth was awarded to the writer and columnist Najat El Hachmi (Beni Sidel, Morocco, 1979), for her first children’s novel “The secrets of Nur” (Destino), “which exudes love for books and for the craft of writing in each of its pages” and Esther L. Calderón received the first Zenda feature for “Pipas” (Pumpkin Seeds). “The mixture of tenderness, humor and low life is brilliant and addictive,” underlined the jury.
In the Editorial category, we distinguished Books about asteroids “for a long and courageous work which re-evaluated the great recent classics, while finding new voices capable of enriching our words from the genres of story and essay.” Privateer letters won the Zenda Librería “for being an authentic cultural reference in Salamanca and creating a unique space for intellectual exchange and enthusiasm for reading.” And the Innovation prize was awarded to eBiblio, the lending service of Spanish public libraries. “His work is valuable not only for the availability of titles, but also for the varied selections and suggestions that he regularly offers to readers,” said the jury, which also awarded José María Mico (Barcelona, 1961) with the Zenda Translation Prize for his work on the Spanish version of Italian classics such as Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso or Dante’s Divine Comedy, which “have earned him a place of honor in the panorama of translation in our country”. In addition, Manuel Ángel Cuenca López won the Zenda-Edhasa special prize.
The jury for this second edition was made up of Jesús García Calero, director of ABC Cultural, Guillermo Altares, editor-in-chief of El País; Nuria Azancot, editor-in-chief of El Cultural d’El Español; Pepa Blanes, head of culture at Cadena SER; Laura Barrachina, cultural journalist, Abril collaborator; Irene Hernández Velasco, head of culture at El Confidencial; Antonio Lucas, poet and journalist from El Mundo; Alberto Olmos, writer and columnist; Javier Ors, head of Culture at La Razón; Santos Sanz Villanueva, cultural critic, and Sergio Vila-Sanjuán, director of Culture/s at La Vanguardia. Also present are Álvaro Colomer, editor-in-chief of Zenda, secretary of the jury, and Leandro Pérez, director of Zenda, coordinator of the jury.
Organized by the literary magazine Zenda, these awards recognize literary and editorial work as well as the promotion of reading during the literary season and are sponsored by Iberdrola and Banco Santander. According to Pérez Reverte during the gala of the first edition, organized in January, “the endowment of these rewards, instead of being economic, is measured in prestige”. The winners will receive a Zenda during a delivery ceremony to take place on January 13, 2026 in Madrid.
During the gala, the Zenda-Edhasa Special Prizean independent, own and original award, awarded by the label’s editors and linked to the Zenda-Edhasa Adventure Classics collection. According to María José Solano, co-editor of the label, the career soldier, historical popularizer and publisher Manuel Ángel Cuenca López deserves to be the second winner of this award because “as director of the Zenda-Edhasa website, promoted a dynamic literary space, modern and respectful of traditionwhere adventure classics find new life and meaning for new generations. “He stands out for his professionalism, his creativity and his deep love for books.”
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