The 20th edition of the L'H Confidencial crime novel award has closed the reception of originals. On this occasion, it has received 75 works, which will now compete for the award, endowed with 12,000 euros, and the publication of the manuscript. The jury will issue its verdict in the last four months of the year.
The submitted works have been mostly written by men, 65, compared to the 10 submitted by women. Regarding their origin, 51 have arrived from Catalonia, and 24 from the rest of the State, especially from the Valencian Country (10) and Madrid (4). As for languages, 49 are written in Spanish, and 26 in Catalan.
The chosen work will be published by Editorial Clandestina and will be presented at a public event that will take place at the La Bòbila Library in the fourth quarter of 2026.
A jury will decide the winner
The jury will be formed by the head of Libraries of l'Hospitalet, a representative of Editorial Clandestina, the director of the La Bòbila Library, three specialists in crime novels, two readers from the crime novel reading club selected by the Library, and the culture councilor. The award will be given to the novel that the jury considers to have the most merits and best evaluation according to its quality and fit with the object of the award.
Twenty years of the L'H Confidencial Award
The L'H Confidencial Award is convened by the l'Hospitalet City Council and Editorial Clandestina and promoted by the La Bòbila Library, a pioneer in Spain in the formation and maintenance of a special collection of crime and detective fiction.
The last edition, 'Cobre en la sangre'
The Cuban writer Lorenzo Lunar was the winner of the last edition of the award with Cobre en la sangre, a story full of social tension, labor exploitation, and revolutionary agitation, set in the mining area of Riotinto (Huelva) at the end of the 19th century, in full decline of the Spanish Empire.
The jury highlighted the solidity of the plot, the narrative quality, and the historical precision of the work, which effectively integrated the theme of labor violence and worker repression of that era. In fact, he presented the work, signed under the pseudonym El Cadete, a name that evokes the harsh reality of workers' living conditions in a time marked by social inequalities.
Lorenzo Lunar has a long career writing crime novels, with other award-winning works such as Que en vez de infierno encuentres gloria and several stories that won the Eugenio Carbajal award at the Semana Negra de Gijón.
