Leonardo Padura Nominated for the Médicis Prize in France

September 17, 2021

Cuban writer Leonardo Padura was nominated for the Médicis Prize in the foreign novel category in France for his latest book, Like Dust in the Wind, reported the jury of one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world.

Like Dust in the Wind (Tusquets Editores) is the story of a group of Cuban friends who have survived a fate of exile and dispersion in different parts of the world, starting in 1990, when they witness the collapse and crumbling of the communist world they knew and begin to experience the trauma of diaspora and the disintegration of bonds, pain relieved by friendship and the invisible threads of love and old loyalties.

Padura, 65 years old, is currently participating as a guest at the 80th Madrid Book Fair, scheduled from September 10 to 26.

Critics in Spain hailed the appearance of Padura's most recent book as a portrait of "eternal exile," the reasons behind the motivations of his characters, gripped by certain events from the past that drag them into a perpetual present; while they live damaged by nostalgia, guilt, or hatred.

Severo Sarduy (1972), with his novel Cobra, and Alejo Carpentier (1979), for The Harp and the Shadow, previously won the Médicis Prize. Padura would be the third Cuban to obtain this prestigious literary award, although specialized critics establish that mere nomination is recognition of the work of the selected author.

Argentines Julio Cortázar (1974) and Héctor Bianciotti (1977), Colombian Álvaro Mutis (1989), and Chilean Antonio Skármeta (2001) complete the number of Latin American authors awarded the Médicis since the establishment of the Foreign Novel category in 1970.

The jury of the 2021 Médicis edition is made up of Marianne Alphant, Michel Braudeau, Marie Darrieussecq, Dominique Fernandez, Anne Garreta, Patrick Grainville, Andreï Makine, Frédéric Mitterrand, Pascale Roze, and Alain Veinstein, in charge of voting in successive elimination rounds for the author of their preference; and will announce their decision in the three categories on October 26.

Along with Padura, 10 other finalists were nominated.

French novel, foreign novel, and essay are the categories of the Médicis Prize, created in 1958 by Gala Barbisan and Jean Pierre Giraudoux, with the idea of awarding an author whose "fame does not yet match his talent."