The Andalusian writer David Uclés won the 82nd Nadal Prize for his dystopian novel 'The City of Dead Lights', set in a post-war Barcelona plunged into darkness over 24 hours. The award ceremony took place in the Catalan city. The publishing house Destino, part of the Planeta group, will publish the novel in Spain on February 4. The novel was chosen by a jury composed of Víctor del Árbol, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Inés Martín Rodrigo, Care Santos, and Emili Rosales. Uclés dedicated the prize to the writers Mercè Rodoreda, Montserrat Roig, and Carmen Laforet: 'Without their writing, this novel would not exist,' he stated. The author also thanked his parents and sister, with whom he formed 'a very beautiful nucleus of love thanks to this strange dream.' 'I am the writer I am because of them; I love them, they are also my family,' affirmed Uclés. The Nadal is the oldest literary prize in Spain and always recognizes unpublished works, such as Carmen Laforet's 'Nadal' when it was first awarded in 1944. On this occasion, a total of 1,207 novels from Spain and the rest of the world were submitted. Uclés presented 'The City of Dead Lights' under the pseudonym Oriol Arce and the title 'Ruge otro día estival' (Another Summer Day Roars). He also thanked his three agents, whom he compared to the Holy Trinity, and the publisher Siruela, which published his bestseller 'La península de las casas vacías' (The Peninsula of Empty Houses). He will now also receive 30,000 euros for the distinction. What is 'The City of Dead Lights' about? It is a multi-character story with over a hundred characters, beginning in the post-war period with Carmen Laforet, the first winner of the Nadal. But in this darkness and mix of times, figures from King Ferdinand II and Freddie Mercury (a second one) to Rosalía, as well as Roberto Bolaño, Gabriel García Márquez, and Carlos Fuentes appear, trying to get Mario Vargas Llosa to have heart surgery to move it to the right side of his body. The novel contains 'humor' and 'magical realism is present all the time, it's madness everything the characters do to make Barcelona have light again, in a style that may recall 'The Peninsula of Empty Houses,' but more dreamlike, surreal, and exaggerated.'
