Rafael Pena
Ceuta, June 3 (EFE).- The Valladolid novelist César Pérez Gellida, 2024 Nadal Prize with his work “Under dry land”, has highlighted that obtaining this award has allowed him to have “an extra” to “reach” others readers “that I didn’t have before.”
César Pérez (Valladolid, 1974) has not hesitated to point out that this award brings him “a lot of joy and a lot of pride” because he is “on that list of authors who are the past and present of our literature in the last 80 years, which It is always a satisfaction to share a name with Miguel Delibes, Francisco Umbral or Ana María Matutes,” he said in an interview with EFE in Ceuta, where he participated in the “Book Fair.”
He stressed that he does not know “the formula” to get this award but they do have “a track record, a volume of readers who support you and a novel. I have not thought about whether this award burdens me with more responsibility or not because it is the readers who “They judge, but I do know that this novel is very honest and will not leave anyone indifferent.”
Asked about the crime novel genre, he pointed out that “there is no reason for my choice of this genre, the writer is a solitary job, which requires many hours in front of a keyboard and I have to have fun, so the crime novel meets the requirements, which is a challenge for me and is what I like to do.”
The crime novel is currently in “excellent health” in our country, according to the Valladolid native, who points out that “right now it is the most in demand, there is a batch of writers who are doing it very well, they are taking over the top sales and it is because It is up to the readers to decide, there is no need to look for further reasoning.”
After publishing since 2013 and completing fourteen novels, the culmination has come this year with the thriller “Under dry land”, which takes place in Extremadura in 1917, which has won the Nadal Prize. “I am delighted with its acceptance, it is the novel that has had the most strength upon its launch, it has a lot of presence in the points of sale and from the readers’ reviews it gives the impression that it will be a long seller.”
In his opinion, the literary industry is “growing, it is true that we went through a few years of unreasonable growth and now we are at the level at which it seems that the industry has settled,” he told EFE.
César Pérez recommends “reading above all things and traveling with the stories that are available for very little money,” in addition to pointing out that Book Fairs “are essential because something that is very present in our lives is highly valued. as are the books and they all come very well.”
He has recognized that professionally he is in his “best moment” and has valued that currently “there is a community of very loyal readers who look for books, although it is a fact that a lot is published, Spain is one of the countries in Europe that publishes the most And it is true that authors who are at the point of sale for a short time if they do not arrive just as you come, you leave, but this is how it is.”
As a writer he has pointed out that “it is one thing to want to write, another to want to write and another to need to write. If one wants or desires to write, one must look for the right time to do so, without seeking a goal beyond enjoying telling a story, but if what is needed is to write, one must dedicate oneself to this profession with other different requirements, among them a discipline, enthusiasm, a lot of faith and a lot of luck.”
He appreciated that one of his novels has been adapted into a television series (Memento Mori), which has been in the top 1 on Prime for thirteen weeks. “It is a very long road to make this audiovisual adoption, we started in 2015, and for the author it is very important because you reach a potential audience who can become your readers.”
In thirteen years of publications, the author is crossing the Strait for the first time and has added that “it is always a pleasure to be in a place where I have never been and even more so with special events like the Book Fair.” EFE
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