The Argentine writer Guillermo Saccomanno has become the winner of the prestigious Alfaguara Prize 2025 with his novel "The Wind Will Burn." This award, valued at 175,000 euros, is one of the most recognized in literature in Spanish and ensures the publication of the book in all Spanish-speaking countries under Penguin Random House.
The novel tells the story of the Esterházys, an eccentric couple with no defined past, who arrive in a coastal Argentine town to manage an old hotel. The plot unfolds in a sober style with a peculiar intensity, meticulously constructing a decay that, despite its specific location, becomes a distorted metaphor for the contemporary spirit.
According to the president of the jury, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, the work is "the story of a degradation, of an agonizing peeling that gradually exposes the miseries of the social body." The characters, along with their children, a girl and a boy more intriguing and enigmatic than themselves, generate an impact on the small society of the town, altering its seemingly peaceful daily dynamics.
The award ceremony took place during the traditional Alfaguara lunch at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, where various writers, journalists, politicians, and creators gathered. Saccomanno, who was in Buenos Aires, stated that "The Wind Will Burn" emerged after a difficult year marked by moves and illnesses, citing influences from Henry Miller, Joseph Conrad, Thomas Bernhard, Juan Carlos Onetti, and Faulkner.
The jury, chaired by Juan Gabriel Vásquez and composed of Leila Guerriero, Manuel Jabois, Paula Ortiz, Andrea Stefanoni, and Pilar Reyes, highlighted the quality and relevance of the winning novel of the Alfaguara Prize 2025, which is expected to be available in bookstores starting on March 20.
