These are the finalists of the La Cueva 2023 National Short Story Award

The winners of the ninth edition of the La Cueva Short Story Award will be announced in January 2023, chosen by a jury made up of Margarita García Robayo, Fernanda Trías and Alejandro Zambra. Courtesy: La Cueva Foundation.

Just a few days after the announcement of Miguel Iriarte as the new director of the La Cueva Foundation, the organization announced the list of finalists who aspire to win the ninth edition of the La Cueva National Short Story Award. There are 25 authors and titles listed that will have to do extra merit to be on the podium, after convincing this year’s demanding group of juries.

The shortlist chosen is made up of the writers Margarita García Robayo and Fernanda Trías, and the writer Alejandro Zambra. The three winners of this version will emerge from their readings. The first place will receive the sum of $20,000,000 Colombian pesos; second place will win $3,000,000 and third place will win $2,000,000.

Margarita García Robayo, is the author of the novels “La Encomienda”, “Dead time”, “Until a hurricane passes”, and “What I did not learn”; the short story book “Worse Things”, winner of the 2014 Casa de Américas Literary Award; and the book of essays “Primera persona”, among other titles.

Margarita Garcia Robayo. Photograph by the author © Alejandra López[Varios libros de Margarita García Robayo pueden descargarse gratis en Bajalibros clickeando acá]

Fernanda Trías, Uruguayan writer based in Bogotá, author of “La azotea”, “La ciudad invincible” and “No soñarás flores”, among other titles. She is the winner of the prestigious Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz International Award (Mexico) and in 2017 she ranked second in the La Cueva National Short Story Award.

Photo courtesy of Fernanda Montoro showing Uruguayan writer Fernanda Trías posing. EFE/ Fernanda Montoro
[”Mugre rosa”, de Fernanda Trías, puede descargarse gratis en Bajalibros clickeando acá]

Alejandro Zambra, Chilean writer based in Mexico and one of the darlings of the Anglo literary world. He has published, in Anagrama, the novels “Bonsái” (2006), “The private life of trees” (2007), “Ways of going home” (2011), “Chilean poet” (2020); the essay collections “No leer” (2018), “Tema libre” (2019) and “Facsimile” (2021).

His novels have been translated into twenty languages ​​and his stories have appeared in magazines such as The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Granta, Harper’s and McSweeney’s. He has received, among other distinctions, the English Pen Award, for the English edition of “Ways to return home”, and the Prince Claus Award, in Holland, for his body of work.

[Varios libros de Alejandro Zambra pueden descargarse gratis en Bajalibros clickeando acá]

Among the 25 names announced are some known to Colombian readers, such as the writer Octavio Escobar Giraldo, author of novels such as “After and Before God”, “Mar de Leva” and “Every dark grave”, among other titles; Javier Zamudio, author of titles such as “Spy on the Happy” and “The Hotel for the Difficult”; journalist Mariana Toro Nader, now based in Spain, and editor Carlos Ospina Marulanda, one of the founders of Editorial Zaíno.

Official poster of the 25 finalists of the ninth edition of the La Cueva National Short Story Award. (The Cave Foundation).

All of them will be part of the anthology resulting from this edition of the award, but only three will win the financial incentives.

Last year, the award was given for the first time to a writer, Yulieth Mora Garzón, from Bogota, with “What made you turn off the light and stay inside”, a story that, in the words of the jury of the X edition, “traces so the path of love and heartbreak between two women is moving, with honest language loaded with subtlety”.

Second place went to “El contacto”, by Laura Bolaño Pérez, philosopher and journalist, and third place went to Argentine writer Lucía Vargas Caparroz, with a story entitled “The only thing there is is this fire”.

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On this occasion, the foundation reported, 1,819 stories were received, 58% more compared to last year. 54% of the stories received were written by people between 18 and 40 years of age; 35% of the contestant writers are between 41 and 65 years old; 3.6% among 66 years or more and 3.5% among 17 years or less. 90% of the stories were sent from Colombia, and 10% were written from abroad, standing out the countries of the United States, Spain and Argentina.

Regarding her participation in the award, Vargas Caparroz, in conversation with Infobae, commented in 2022 that the experience of winning third place in the contest has been wonderful for her.

“I don’t usually write short fiction, my work is focused on non-fiction and poetry; however, I allowed myself to return to the story during the pandemic lockdown. I worked on this text for almost two years, and thanks to the hard work of proofreading and the support of great readers and colleagues, it became what it is. I feel very committed to my writing and it was really encouraging to receive this recognition. I am infinitely grateful for the support of the jury, Fundación La Cueva and the entire team of people who make this award possible”, said the Argentine, author of the book What takes time to leave.

Meanwhile, the most recent winner of first place, Yulieth Mora Garzón, author of “Involuntary Movements,” said that she has always believed that if a text is worth it, little by little, it will find its place in the world. You don’t have to force it.

“(…) I took years writing the story that won and finally when I thought I had finished it I sent it to the La Cueva call; it was like letting go. Of course, if one enters a contest it is because he wants to win. However, one bets because he hopes to be read, it is never about the money. I believe that behind the organizers of the award and the writers there is a blind faith in the short story as a genre, because there are few incentives for it. One day they call you and tell you that you won and you are happy, but the next day you know that what you have to do is keep writing. The prize is a shine; a flash, it is a new air for the writer who knows about the imminent failure of sitting down to write.

The La Cueva National Short Story Award is an initiative of the La Cueva Foundation, created in 2011 by Heriberto Fiorillo, who until this year had been the director of the entity, which seeks to strengthen the presence of the short story, one of the oldest genres and exciting aspects of literature, in the panorama of contemporary letters.

The literary contest has established itself as an essential event for Colombian writers, regardless of their age or background, as well as for foreigners residing in the country and for Colombians living abroad.

Characters such as Gabriel García Márquez, Álvaro Cepeda Samudio, José Félix Fuenmayor, Ramón Vinyes and Alfonso Fuenmayor, prominent members of the Barranquilla Group, were great readers and short story writers from the beginning of their literary career until their mature years. The award, inspired by the Group’s legacy and its literary contribution, has seen the birth of more than 12,000 stories from 30 Colombian departments and countries such as Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, Spain, Germany, Venezuela, Uruguay, Canada, and the United States.

Keep reading:

“Variaciones Joseph Roth”, the book by Edgardo Cozarinsky that is published in ChileFive Instagram accounts to keep track of Colombian literature in 2023The “Short days and long nights”, by Charles Simić

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