Writers David Uclés, Ignacio Martínez de Pisón and Laura Ferrero join the jury of the IV Ciudad de Estepona Novel Prize, which opens its call for entries.

Organized by the Manuel Alcántara Foundation and the Estepona City Council, the award is endowed with 25,000 euros and includes the publication of the winning work by Pre-Textos publishing house. This fourth edition is open to unpublished novels written in Spanish, as long as they have not been awarded in other contests.

Writers David Uclés, Ignacio Martínez de Pisón and Laura Ferrero join for the first time the jury of the IV Ciudad de Estepona Novel Prize, whose call for entries opens this Thursday. Organized by the Manuel Alcántara Foundation and the Estepona City Council, with the collaboration of the Pre-Textos Publishing House, this award seeks to promote literary creation and recognize the talent of writers in the Spanish language.

The contest is endowed with 25,000 euros, which will be granted as an advance payment of royalties. The prize is open to unpublished novels written in Spanish, provided that they have not been awarded in other contests and are not participating in similar processes at the time of the call for entries. The works must have a minimum length of 150 pages and a maximum length of 300 pages.

The novels must be sent in digital format (PDF) to the e-mail address premionovela@manuelalcantara.org, along with an additional file that includes the author’s personal and contact information, as well as a signed statement attesting to the originality and unpublished nature of the work.

The deadline for receipt of works will end on May 10 and the decision of the jury, composed of leading figures from the Spanish literary and journalistic world, will be announced before December 31, 2025.

In this edition, the jury will be formed by the aforementioned writers Ignacio Martínez de Pisón (‘Castillos de Fuego’, ‘Ropa de casa’); Laura Ferrero (‘Los astronautas’, ‘Piscinas vacías’); and David Uclés, Cálamo Award to the best novel of the year for ‘La península de las casas vacías’. They are joined by Rafael Arias, head of the Letras Corsarias bookstore, Cultural Bookstore Award 2024; Silvia Pratdesaba, editor at Pre-Textos; and writer and cultural journalist Guillermo Busutil, National Cultural Journalism Award.

Since its first edition, the ‘Ciudad de Estepona’ Novel Award has attracted the attention of writers from all over the world. In its debut, it gathered more than 300 works from countries such as Germany, France, Egypt, Canada, USA, Guatemala and Mexico, with the winner being the novel ‘Tumbas de agua’ by Mexican author Miguel Tapia.

In its second edition, the participation doubled, exceeding 600 originals, and the winning work was ‘Buitrera’, by Manuel Moya. In the most recent edition, the novel ‘El sabor de mi madre’ by Marina Perezagua won the award among nearly 700 entries from different parts of Spain, Europe and Latin America.