Eva Baltasar has won the Médicis Étranger for the French edition of Ocàs i fascinació, recognizing the international reach of a novel originally written in Catalan and published by Club Editor. Annie Bats translated the work into French for publisher Verdier.
Speaking from Paris during the award ceremony, Baltasar said the recognition made her feel less alone and comforted by the idea of sharing her characters and stories with readers. She also highlighted the significance of being the first book written in Catalan to receive the prize, saying the award draws attention both to her novel and to Catalan literature.
The Médicis Étranger has been awarded in France since 1970 to the best translated novel of the year. Baltasar had previously been a finalist for the prize. Its recent winners include Nobel laureate Han Kang, Lidia Jorge, Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir and Antonio Muñoz Molina, while earlier recipients included Milan Kundera, Julio Cortázar, Doris Lessing, Umberto Eco, Philip Roth and Enrique Vila-Matas.
Before Baltasar’s win, the only Catalan-language novel to have been shortlisted for the award was Jaume Cabré’s Jo confesso. This year’s other finalists were Lavinia Braniste, Laura Kasischke, Masashi Matsuie, Hanna Nordenhök, Alcide Pierantozzi, Michele Ruol, Robert Seethaler and Colombian writer Juan Gabriel Vásquez.
Baltasar’s work has also attracted interest beyond literature. Filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar recently said he would like to adapt her novel Peixos, after previously showing interest in Boulder. Meanwhile, Permagel has been adapted for the stage in a production directed by Victoria Szpunberg and starring Maria Rodríguez Soto.
Sources: La Vanguardia.