It took Pilar Quintana four years and a few drafts to write The Abysses (Los Abismos) winner of the 2021 Alfaguara Novel Prize. Under the pen name of “Claudia from Colombia, ” she competed with 2,428 other manuscripts, a record of submissions according to the organisers. The day you were announced as the Alfaguara Prize winner you said you were “a little speechless.” Have you had time to assimilate it? Q: Once I was a mother, I could understand things from my mom that I didn’t understand, and I think this novel is that. Although the novel also emerges from my connection with a childhood fear: The fear of losing our parents.

Source: The Star February 12, 2021 07:02 UTC