Clara Usón has been awarded the top prize for crime fiction following the jury's deliberations at the Semana Negra festival in Gijón.
Crime fiction in Spanish continues to consolidate its relevance thanks to awards such as the Dashiell Hammett Prize, one of the most prestigious in the genre. At the recent edition of Semana Negra in Gijón, the jury decided to award this distinguished prize to Barcelona-born author Clara Usón, born in 1961, for her novel ‘Las fieras.’
The work, set in the period known as the “years of lead”—marked by ETA terrorism and the actions of the Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups (GAL)—has achieved recognition thanks to its innovative approach and narrative mastery.
The jury highlighted its decision by emphasizing that the award-winning novel offers a stylistically refreshing vision that breaks with the clichés of the genre and, in addition, manages to give characters based on real figures a remarkable literary dimension.
