The Planeta Prize, which includes one million euros, was to be awarded to the renowned crime writer Carmen Mola during a ceremony in Spain on Friday. Then the shocking truth came out.
It was already known that Carmen Mola is a pseudonym. IN interview the author has been portrayed as “a female university professor living in Madrid with her husband and children”.
Spanish press has according to CNN pointed out that the contrast between Mola’s normal family life and the extreme violence in the books works well in marketing.
Royal audience
Now the truth is out. And it’s quite different.
It appeared in front of Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia during the awarding of the Planeta Prize on Friday.
Then it turned out that there are three men behind the pseudonym. TV writers Agustin Martinez, Jorge Diaz and Antonio Mercero are together to write the crime novels published under the name Carmen Mola.
– We are three friends who one day four years ago decided to combine our abilities to tell stories, Diaz explains according to Financial Times.
Criticized
The shock has created many reactions in Spain, even if one have suspected that there was one man which was behind the pseudonym.
– In addition to using a female pseudonym, these men have been doing interviews for years. It’s not just the name, it’s the fake profile they’ve used to deceive readers and journalists. Scammers, says Beatriz Gimeno, a feminist and author who was previously director of the National Institute of Women.
The prize was awarded for the historical thriller “The Beast”, which is about a serial killer who is hunted by a journalist, a policeman and a young woman during the cholera pandemic in 1834.
–
