2017 Honey A. Elustondo won and just published the book The Lungs Drowned by a Kez Ball, while last year Josu Baranbones, who is translating Patricia Highsmith's The Blunderer. Who will be the winner of this edition? The scholarship (H)ilbeltza, launched by the Baztan City Hall, the association (H)ilbeltza and the editorial Txalaparta, has reached its third edition.

It is an aid of 6,000 euros so that the writer who receives the scholarship can produce a black novel in Basque in one year. Half of that money will be given to the winner as soon as the winner of the scholarship is announced and the other half after the text is completed.

People interested in presenting the scholarship must present their narrative projects (novels or collections of stories) in two envelopes: in the first one must make a description of the story that you want to work on pages 2-4 and give a sample of the work, about 30,000 characters. The second envelope will include a copy of the author's ID and bank details, which can be found on the website of the Baztan City Hall.

Among all the projects presented, a jury composed of three people will decide the winning project – Joseba Otondo representing the Baztan City Hall; Jon Jimenez on behalf of the Txalaparta; and Castillo Suarez on behalf of the association (H)ilbeltza), ensuring that the project is of a black gender and taking into account the originality and quality of the work.

The initiative aims to give a boost to the fondness for the black novel that is gaining strength in Baztan in recent years and to reclaim the role of gender in Basque literature. The week of the Basque black novel (H)ilbeltza, which this year has reached its fifth edition, has become an inescapable quote in the panorama of the Basque letters.