Eduardo Mendoza wins 8th José Luis Sampedro Prize of Getafe Negro Festival at UC3M
10/20/17
Writer Eduardo Mendoza has received the 8th José Luis Sampedro Prize of the Getafe Negro Festival at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
In attendance at the awards ceremony, held yesterday at the Professors Club on the University’s Getafe campus, were UC3M rector Juan Romo; the mayor of Getafe, Sara Hernández; the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports for the Autonomous Region of Madrid, Jaime de los Santos; the Deputy Director-General for the Promotion of Books, Reading and Spanish Letters of the Ministry of Culture, David García; and the coordinator of the Getafe Negro Festival, Lorenzo Silva.
UC3M rector Juan Romo said that “it is unusual for the name of a prize and the name of the prizewinner to be in such close harmony. The direct, unadorned language, the sophisticated thought that is directed to the reader on the same level, with respect, without pedantry or paternalism, make José Luis Sampedro and Eduardo Mendoza writers of emphatic clarity as distanced from the fallacy of transparency as superficial dissemination.”
Eduardo Mendoza, for his part, emphasized the importance of “reading in the difficult times were are experiencing” and “not because it allows us to escape reality, but because it gives us strength that allows us to confront daily life in a much less confusing way.” Also, he confessed that when he started out “in literature, I didn’t expect to earn money or receive prizes, but I did hope for reward in the way of recognition or praise.” However, in contacts with readers, he does not normally receive praise, but rather thanks, because “literature generates gratitude.”
During the ceremony, the “Novela Negra Ciudad de Getafe 2017” Prize has been awarded to writer Jesús Tíscar Jandra for his novel La Japonesa Calva.
UC3M is collaborating with the festival Getafe Negro by organizing numerous activities in its campus for the last decade. This year, moreover than the novel as the undeniable protagonist, subjects such as the relationship between the humanities and power, the crime novel as a form of social protest, philosophy in times of global crime, the phenomena of cultural ruffianism and post-censorship, and climate crime will be explored.
Vídeo tribute to Eduardo Mendoza: https://youtu.be/9RSiHOGbUu4
