Roberto Marín Luque (Reus, Tarragona, 1978) has won first prize in the 14th Cardenal Mendoza International Microfiction Contest with “Noche jerezana,” a microfiction story that renews the tradition of the best Spanish absurd humor, in which Jerez brandy plays a soothing role. Marín Luque has lived in Andalusia for forty years; he holds a degree in Art History from the University of Seville, is a teacher of Geography and History, and has published several books of short stories, poetry, and essays. He resides in Alcalá de Guadaira (Seville).
Second prize went to “Sobrevivir a papá” (Surviving Dad), a cruel mini-story, masterfully narrated with a self-assuredness characteristic of dirty realism. Its author is Pedro Pablo López Pertíñez (Granada, 1982).
“Instructions for Melancholy (Homage to Cortázar),” originally by Francisco Xavier Lama López of Santiago de Compostela (La Coruña), wins third prize. The jury praised its profound lyricism, in the tradition of the great Argentine storyteller.
The Cardenal Mendoza Non Plus Ultra Award, given to the micro-story that best enhances the image of Jerez brandy, has been awarded to “La travesía del holandés” by Francisco C. Ayudarte Granados of Motril (Granada). It is a nod, in miniature form, to the novel Moby Dick and its protagonist, the whaler.
The jury, chaired by Mauricio Gil Cano, was composed of poets Josefa Parra Ramos, director of the Caballero Bonald Foundation, and Ana Sofía Pérez-Bustamante Mourier, a doctor of literature, researcher, and critic; as well as the storyteller, professor, and critic José López Romero; the general director of the Regulatory Council of Brandy de Jerez, César Saldaña; and Francisco Javier Requejo Bohórquez, CEO of Sánchez Romate Hnos. S.A.
This year, the Cardenal Mendoza Contest received 1,983 micro-stories from thirty-one countries. The jury’s decision and the winning micro-stories can be read on the website https://www.cardenalmendoza.com/es/blog. The Cardenal Mendoza Contest has established itself as a benchmark in Spanish-language very short fiction with its unique pairing of microfiction and sherry brandy.
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