At a press conference held on 9 October in Bilbao, the first vice-president of the Basque Government and Councillor for Culture and Linguistic Policy, Ibone Bengoetxea, announced the winners of the Euskadi Prize for Literature.
Gerediaga has won the Prize of Literature in Euskera by Zeru-lur liburua, Canok Mundua pitzatuta dago but we have walked there by Juvenile and Juvenile Literature in Euskera by Canok Mundua, and De las Heras the modality of Illustration of Literary Work by Campos de Castilla.
The jury of the Prize for Literature in Euskera, Zeru-lur, by Jon Gerediaga, has defined the work as "a poetic reflection that starts from the observation of nature". In this sense, he stressed that poetry is "very worked and delicate".
Harkaitz Cano has won her fourth Euskadi Literature Award for her book Mundua pitzatuta dago, but we are there. The jury has highlighted that the book "pays tribute to libraries" and addresses universal themes based on their personal experience, such as death, love or family relationships, among others.
David de las Heras has been awarded by the jury for his work in the illustration of the book Campos de Castilla, by the Spanish poet Antonio Machado. He has stated that this is a "round job", as it uses "with mastery" all techniques and forms. The jury highlighted the "brave" interpretation of Machado's work, which has made the illustration become poetry.
Merit
The prizes are provided with EUR 18,000 of fees and, in addition, they will be able to obtain an additional EUR 4,000 if the work is published in another language. In total, seven Euskadi prizes are awarded each year, along next week the winners of the four remaining modalities will be announced: Spanish Literature, Literary Translation to Euskera, Essay in Euskera and Essay in Spanish. The awards ceremony will be held on 21 November at the Artium Museum in Vitoria-Gasteiz.