Spanish-language short stories are enjoying a rare commercial moment.
Submissions to the ninth Premio de Narrativa Breve Ribera del Duero closed on 31 December, reports PublishNewsES, with an all-time high of 1,929 unpublished collections, a 73 % leap on 2024 and almost four times the inaugural 2008 tally.
Global reach: 36 countries represented
Spain supplied 782 entries (40 %), but Latin America continues to power growth: Argentina (412), Mexico (190) and Colombia (152) dominate, while Chile, Peru, USA and Cuba supply a long tail. Six in ten manuscripts arrived from overseas.
Women double their share in two years
Female authorship jumped from 280 MSS in 2024 to 573, yet men still account for 70 % of the field.
Prize profile: €25,000, wine-country backing
Endowed by the Ribera del Duero wine regulatory board and Madrid micro-press Páginas de Espuma – Spain’s only house devoted solely to short fiction- the award carries a €25,000 cheque and guaranteed Spanish-language edition. Previous laureates include Samanta Schweblin, Guadalupe Nettel and Liliana Colanzi, all of whom have since sold English-language rights, a market signal UK editors increasingly monitor.
Trade context: short fiction is selling
Spanish-language short stories are enjoying a rare commercial moment. Colanzi’s You Glow in the Dark (Páginas de Espuma, 2022) has gone to seven territories, while Schweblin’s Seven Empty Houses – winner in 2015 – was picked up by Oneworld after multiple reprints at home. The prize’s spring announcement slot now features in scouts’ Frankfurt scouting calendars.
What happens next
A five-member jury – chaired this year by Enrique Vila-Matas – will convene in Madrid on 19 March to reveal the winner, with the book scheduled for April publication. Translation rights are handled directly by Páginas de Espuma; foreign offers are welcome from the day of the award.
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.
