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Savater Grabs the Planeta Prizez's Hefty $$$
October 16, 2008

The Spanish philosopher and novelist, Fernando Savater is the big winner of this year’s Premio Planeta 2008 with his novel La hermandad de la buena suerte (The Brotherhood of Good Luck), a novel who style is being said to have tints of the genres policiaca/novela negra to it. Savater’s book was submitted as La curva del Pardo (Pardo's Curve) and the author used the pseudonym, Patricio as his sneaky disguise. The Spanish novelist Ángela Vallvey, was named finalist with her novel, Muerte entre poetas (Death Between Poets), a novel that is being compared to an Agatha Christie style mystery. When she received her prize she made sure to thank books in general, “…they’ve saved me from boredom and solitude.”

Planeta's Champions: Fernando Savater and Ángela Vallvey, in the center (El Mundo).

The event was celebrated last night in Barcelona’s Palau de Congressos de Catalunya. When Savater received the prize he said, “It’s an adventure novel with a touch of the metaphysical that’s set in the horse-racing world, which I adore.” A total of 528 anonymous and unpublished novels competed for the grand prize of 601, 000 Euros (roughly $810, 000). Considered one of the most lucrative prizes in Spanish language letters, I would have to say it must be better to win the Planeta with all its prestige than settle for being just an ordinary Lotto winner.  As the finalist, Vallvey takes home 150, 250 Euros. Still not bad. The judges this year were: Alfredo Bryce Echenique, Pere Gimferrer, Carmen Posadas, Rosa Regàs, Alberto Blecua and Álvaro Pombo.

For those into numbers or numerology like I am, here’s a bit of data that you might find curious:
57 submissions came from Latin-American writers this year. And the total number of submissions this year was said to be the highest ever in the 57 years this prize has been around. Loco.

Posted by Adriana V. Lopez on October 16, 2008 | Comments (0)