The 42 Awards
The Awards
If a fantastic genre novel wins an award such as the Ictineu or Ignotus, this is undoubtedly the best calling card it can get. Each literary season, dozens of works reach readers’ shelves thanks to the recognition and quality hallmark these kinds of awards provide. The CatCon, the HispaCon, the WorldCon, the Festival Celsius... All proper fantastic festivals have their own awards, and the 42 Festival is no exception.
After three editions, the 42 Awards are well established with a commitment to quality fantastic literature, to readers and to breaking new ground on the fantasy scene. So, on Friday 7 November, ten fortunate authors will receive the award designed by Tono Cristòfol and awarded by two panels, who will be revealing their choices for the best works in Catalan and Spanish that have hit bookshops in recent months.
There will be awards for the best original work in Catalan, the best original work in Spanish, the best work translated into Catalan, the best work translated into Spanish, the best classic translated into Catalan, the best breakthrough work written in Catalan, the best breakthrough work in Spanish, the best young adult work in Catalan, for the best work for young people in Spanish and the honorary award for outstanding trajectory in fantastic genres.
The awards for works in Catalan will be decided by a jury composed of Aissata M’ballo Diao, Cristina Xifra, Miquel Codony, and Tatiana Dunyó. A second jury, made up of Borja Bilbao, Carla Plumed, Laura S. Maquilón, and Leticia Lara, will decide the awards for works in Spanish.
And if you’re left wanting more, on Saturday, November 8 at 4:00 p.m., you’ll have the chance to attend a very special event: a roundtable discussion with the winning authors, joined by members of the jury, to talk about their works, creative processes, and the reasons behind their success. A great opportunity to get to know the most outstanding voices in the genre up close.
The panel of judges
In catalan:
Aissata M’ballo Diao, born in Cervera in 1994, holds an undergraduate degree in journalism and humanities from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and a master’s degree in publishing from UPF-Barcelona School of Management. She has worked in advertising and marketing and was head of communications at Periferia Cimarronas, among other roles. She is currently co-founder of the publishing house Jaŋde, co-editor of the creative magazine Branca and a children’s, young adult and comics editor at Penguin Random
House.
Cristina Xifra i Estrany, born in Cassà de la Selva in 1971, is an information security specialist, writer, compulsive reader and passionate fan of time travel – though so far she has had to settle for going forwards, and at the same speed as everyone else. She has published stories in anthologies such as Extraordinàries [Extraordinary Women] and, more recently Ciutat soterrada [Underground City], which won the Ictineu Award for Best Catalan Short Story Collection in Fantasy Genres. She was a co-winner of the AELC’s 3rd ‘Imagina un amor’ Prize at the QLit festival and received the Joan Guasp Vila de Consell Prize for Theatre.
Miquel Codony, born in Santa Coloma de Gramenet in 1976, holds an undergraduate degree in medicine and surgery, a master’s degree in public health, and currently works as a secondary school teacher. His passion for genre literature, however, has led him to co-organise fantasy fiction festivals, including MIRcon/Hispacon (Montcada i Reixac, 2014) and BCon/EuroCon (Barcelona, 2016). He is a co-host of the monthly podcast El Biblionauta, Esperant el Cometa, and one of the creators of the podcast Neo Nostromo and the video podcast The Spoiler Club. He also leads the speculative fiction reading club at Montcada i Reixac Library and Fahrenheit, the book club for Catalan-language new fantasy releases run by
Tatiana Dunyó, born in a hospital bed in 1991, is an actor and screenwriter, as well as an avid reader of genre fiction. They have been involved with El Biblionauta, an association dedicated to promoting fantasy and science fiction, where they have published numerous reviews from an intersectional perspective. As an actor, Dunyó focuses on exploring art’s potential for shocking with their theatre companies Fantàstica Meravellosa and Endramats.
In spanish:
Borja Bilbao, born in Santander in 1984, is a literary journalist specialising in science fiction, fantasy and horror who currently works as an editor at Windumanoth magazine. He also contributes to various genre literature-related initiatives through articles, podcasts and collaborations with publishing houses that feature speculative fiction in their catalogues. As a journalist, he has appeared as a speaker and presenter at book fairs and festivals including Celsius in Avilés, Hispacon and the 42 Festival. Now based in London, he also organises and coordinates literary meet-ups and networking events.
Carla Plumed, born in Barcelona in 1983, is a literary content creator on social media under the pseudonym Café de Tinta. For four years, she hosted the literary podcast Café Librería – a transmedia project that won an Ignotus Award for Best Audiovisual Production. She now co-hosts Furia en la librería with Inés Galiano, a podcast recorded live at the Gigamesh bookshop, which has twice been a finalist for the Ignotus Awards for Best Audiovisual Production.
Laura S. Maquilón, born in Abarán in 1992, is a designer, proofreader, writer and editor at Crononauta. She has published stories in various magazines, the novellas Izahi, a tus hijas [Izahi, to Your Daughters] and El pasado es un cazador paciente [The Past Is a Patient Hunter], and the novels Concierto en sol menor [Concerto in G Minor] and Fuga en luz mayor [Fugue in Bright Light]. For six years she contributed to La Nave Invisible, promoting the work of women authors in fantasy, science fiction and horror. She co-founded the #LeoAutorasOct initiative and served on the panel of the first Ripley Prize. Maquilón has also been a writer for Libros Prohibidos, editor at Windumanoth and administrator of the Ignotus Awards.
Leticia Lara defines herself as a compulsive reader, and her career attests to this. Together with Cristina Jurado, she co-edited the science fiction anthology Alucinadas [Women Astounded], featuring only genre stories by women authors. In addition to reading, she enjoys sharing her literary discoveries on her blog Fantástica-Ficción, where for years she has reviewed every new title that comes her way and offered literary-themed puzzles for her readers.
List of award winners
42 Award for best original work in Catalan 2025
Mammalia, by Elisenda Solsona (Males Herbes)
“An ingenious novel handling motherhood in an original style, breaking away from clichés. A narrative voice that never lets up and leaves your heart full of scars.”
42 Award for best original work in Spanish 2025
La península de las casas vacías, by David Uclés (Siruela)
“An account of the miseries of the fraternal war through the prism of magic realism. Jándula is, from now on, the Spanish Macondo.”
42 Award for best work translated into Catalan 2025
Xina Muntanya Zhang, by Maureen F. McHugh (Chronos), translated by Lluís Delgado
“The only bad thing about this novel is that it ends. The sort of book that demonstrates why science-fiction is important.”
42 Award for best work translated into Spanish 2025
Al final de la oscuridad, by Sequoia Namagatsu (Nocturna), translated by Ainize Salaberri
“A novel that oppresses the heart with the full force of speculative fiction. It moves the reader with very little, with a delicateness to learn from.”
42 Award for best breakthrough work in Catalan 2025
Gemma Calduch, for Si sabessis el mar com és bonic (La Magrana)
“A debut that uses the genre in an original and uninhibited way, paying tribute to the Catalan literary tradition. An unsettling novel that revisits classic fantasy figures to mirror a society of misfits where everybody takes advantage of everybody else.”
42 Award for the best breakthrough work in Spanish 2025
Belén Martínez, for Placeres mortales (Umbriel)
“Virtues and poisons mix in this palatine intrigue that brings Belén Martínez to adult fantasy. A reimagination of Asian culture put through the domestic fantastic filter.”
42 Award for best classic translated into Catalan 2025
Houston, Houston, ens rebeu?, by Alice B. Sheldon (Duna), translated by Ernest Riera
“A sharp and bold book that demonstrates to us that smiling is another way of baring one’s teeth. We’d want to see Abascal’s face reading this book.”
42 Award for best work for young readers in Catalan 2025
Temps de fronteres, by Bernat Romaní (Bambú)
“A novel for young readers that combines two literary traditions: time travel and the Civil War. A book that assumes the intelligence of teenage readers.”
42 Award for best work for young readers in Spanish 2025
Entre dos finales, by Raquel Arbeteta (Salamandra)
“An immersion in costumbrismo fantasy with an air of El dia de la marmota. This really is a living read, the rest are folly.”
Honorary 42 Award 2025
Marc Mateu and Ferran Molinas for the creation of 3XL.net
“Thanks for bringing us so many characters that will always have a place in our heart. Thanks for continuing the legacy of light, fire and destruction.”