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- The young 16-year-old writer, originally from Villarodrigo de las Regueras, León, has won this award with *The Teacher's Doll, a story that arose when she volunteered to care for the elderly in a residence.
- "A realistic, intense and beautifully written story, with a deep sensitivity", is how the jury has described the style of the award-winning novel.
Madrid, February 14, 2024.- María Lorenzo Valero, from Villarodrigo de las Regueras, León, has won the XIX Jordi Sierra i Fabra Prize for Young People, in an edition marked by the increase in the quality of originals presented, with a majority of realistic and fantasy novels, with fewer references to high schools, their daily reality, and more ecological concerns.
Jordi Sierra i Fabra has congratulated the participants in these awards that his Foundation has been organizing for 19 years, and has stated that "writing is an endless marathon, each book is always the first, and the toll of learning is hard, although it usually comforts. Writing is a necessity for many, as is breathing. Effort, sacrifice, trust and perseverance beyond the results is the key to becoming a writer."
This young woman from León, 16 years old, has won the award with her first novel that emerged when she volunteered at a residence. A woman over 80 years old told him her story, which has been the basis of her story that is "realistic, intense and beautifully written, with deep sensitivity", as the jury described it.
María Valero Lorenzo studies 1st year of Baccalaureate at the Nuestra Señora del Carmen school in León. Her desire, in addition to writing, is to study Hispanic Philology.
The relationship between a rural teacher and a girl
The Teacher's Doll takes place shortly before the Spanish Civil War and tells the relationship between a rural teacher and a girl of about 7 or 8 years old. Only the teacher and the girl know that the teacher's doll is real, it has a life of its own. This daughter of teachers tells a story in the purest magical realism, where fantasy serves as an escape from the harshness of everyday life. "Rich in vocabulary, typical of a rural environment of the time, it is a story as intense as it is preciously literary," the jury remarked.
The jury for this edition was made up of Berta Márquez (editorial manager of Children's and Young People's Literature at SM), Elena O'Callaghan (writer), África Vázquez (writer and winner of the Jordi Sierra i Fabra Prize 2008), Pep Durán (bookseller , representing the Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation) and Arturo Padilla (writer and winner of the I Jordi Sierra i Fabra Prize in 2006).
Mythology and science, protagonists of the finalist works
The first finalist in this edition of the Jordi Sierra i Fabra awards has been the novel Reino de Amazonas, by Claudia Gallego Egido, from Segovia, a fast-paced story about classical mythology, but from a new and original point of view. With constant action and impressive documentation work, it also has a background about the search for equality between men and women.
The second finalist was The Shadow of Progress, written by Rosa María Berrocal, from Fuenlabrada, Madrid, who repeats as a finalist with a dystopia that tells us about progress and its consequences, in a world in which only a minority can study. Among its pages there are very good debates between science and the limits of ethics.
The rest of the finalists were Sara Moro Méndez, from Gijón, for The Silence of the Orchids; Alba Simarro Ríos, from Humanes, Madrid, by Inmortal Coluym; Eva Román Teijeiro, from Vigo, for When our music was not silence; and Manal Lachaal Lachkar from Figueres, Girona, for Malas Hierbas.
The presentation of the XIX Jordi Sierra i Fabra Literary Prize will take place in the coming months, with the presentation of the winning novel already published by SM.
More information about the Jordi Sierra i Fabra Awards for Young People.
The Children and Youth Literature in SM
SM advocates children's and youth literature of high literary quality and a playful approach, which encourages a taste for reading and transmits human, social and cultural values that help improve the world around us. Literary quality, educational capacity and success among the reading public come together in its publications and services. It offers collections adapted to each age group, for which it selects the best authors and illustrators.
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