Argentine writer Samanta Schweblin has won the first Aena Hispano-American Narrative Prize, worth 1 million euros, for her short story collection 'El buen mal' published by Seix Barral. The award recognizes the best book in Spanish published in 2025 in the Hispanic world. Finalists Héctor Abad Faciolince, Nona Fernández, Marcos Giralt Torrente, and Enrique Vila-Matas each received 30,000 euros at the gala in Barcelona's Museu Marítim.
Samanta Schweblin, 48, who resides in Berlin, received the prize at a gala dinner hosted by Martina Klein and Josep Cuní at Barcelona's Maritime Museum (Museu Marítim). Rosa Montero, jury president, presented the award and praised Schweblin's stories for masterfully navigating 'the borders between the possible and the impossible with hypnotic beauty' and her 'unique style that combines thriller tension with unusual philosophical depth'.
The jury included Pilar Adón, Luis Alberto de Cuenca, Jorge Fernández Díaz, Leila Guerriero, José Carlos Llop, and Élmer Mendoza, with secretaries Sergio Vila-Sanjuán and Jesús García Calero. Aena president Maurici Lucena defended the award as corporate patronage. Schweblin was selected over the finalists.
Visibly moved, Schweblin called the prize 'a declaration of principles' for honoring short stories and an 'embrace of the Argentine literary tradition, which has always found beauty in strangeness'. She thanked her family and the 'very abandoned' public University of Buenos Aires, adding she felt 'in shock, like I just got off a roulette wheel'.
'El buen mal' explores the boundary between care and violence through six stories featuring vulnerable characters, questioning moral limits in everyday life.
The gala featured artistic interventions inspired by the finalists' works: a monologue for Giralt Torrente's 'Los ilusionists', piano for 'El buen mal', performance for Vila-Matas, live drawing and voice for Fernández, and Ukrainian dance for Abad Faciolince. Attendees included Salvador Illa, Jaume Collboni, and Jordi Hereu.
