Irene Rubio wins the Documenta prize with a story of survival and superstition

BarcelonaIt was a surprise that Irene Rubio Martínez (Sallent, 1991) didn't submit her entry for the Documenta Prize. She hesitated until the very last minute, and a friend waited outside Documenta on September 19th to make sure she didn't back out. She was right to do so, because the jury decided to award her first novel. You will be the valleywhich presents a dystopian and devastated scenario with several female voices. "The literary ambition, a world of its own that is both dark and luminous, powerful narrative voices, and the imaginative, unsettling, and deeply believable construction of a world in which nature and city are violently confronted, make the winning work an original and vibrant proposal that looks directly at the present and speaks, among many other things, of patriarchy," says the jury made up of Albert Forns, Roser Cabré-Verdiell, Pau Vidal, Èric del Arco, and Eugenia Broggi.

"It is a choral novel straddling myth and horror. It is a story of survival, uprooting, and superstition, which begins by questioning the concept of family, emotional bonds, and the weight of established traditions, ultimately addressing inequality, abuses of power, and gender." "Fictional, divided between the valley and the city, it reflects some of the problems of the modern world," notes the author, who has a degree in applied languages and works as a Catalan teacher at the secondary level. Rubio also organizes reading clubs, writing workshops, teaches Catalan to newcomers to Sallent, and collaborates on Natural Podcast Making literary prescription.

The number of original works submitted to Documenta 2025 was much higher than in previous years: 38 manuscripts in total. This year there was a strong presence of dystopian and fantasy themes that exude a deep concern for the future of humanity. According to the jury, the submitted works also share a common theme: life within small communities and the revision of identity through the death of parents. Stories focused on romantic interests and sexual and affective relationships were almost nonexistent.

In its most recent phase, the Documenta Prize has recognized books published by La Otra Editorial, such as Ice Brotherby Alicia Kopf; Slow death, by Xavier Mas Craviotto; The damage, by Irene Pujadas; You have to get to the forest when it's still dark., by Maria Arimany; A black cat in the gardenby Irene Zurrón, and The screams, by Victor Recort.