The BBVA Sant Joan Prize for Catalan Literature, created in 1981 by the social work of Caixa Sabadell, is a cultural benchmark. This award, now celebrating its 45th edition, has continued thanks to the support of BBVA. Furthermore, to promote new generations of writers in Catalan, the bank and the Fundació de Antigues Caixes Catalanes have created a new category for writers up to 35 years old for the next edition.

Mercromina, the first novel by Aida Sunyol Sánchez (Cardedeu, 1990), has just received the BBVA San Juan award for "a lighthearted and fun comedy", in the words of Pilar Beltran, from Edicions 62, and for "being a choral and urban work, well constructed, written with nerve, rhythm, 2.0 relationships between young characters installed in permanent instability, with a sense of humor, a groundbreaking, casual and iconoclastic vision of current reality". The debut of Aida Sunyol, who has published stories in Cloud and in the feminist erotica collections Sexo Fora Norma and is currently a secondary school biology and geology teacher, she has won out of the hundred works nominated for the award. "I studied science, but I have dedicated myself to law and, for some time now, to teaching," she comments. "Since the COVID-19 pandemic, I have regained my love of writing and started writing short stories and novels. My father says that my multiplicity of interests makes me...

With a 45-year history of supporting Catalan literature, the BBVA Sant Joan Award—organized by the Fundació Antigues Caixes Catalanes with the support of BBVA—continues to recognize the most prominent and innovative voices on the literary scene and promote their talent globally. In the 2023 edition, the award went to Marta Marín-Dòmine, for a work that captivated the jury with her profound insight and unique literary style: 'Diré que me lo he inventado' (I'll Say I Made It Up). We spoke with the author about her career, her connection to the Catalan language, and what it means to receive an award with such a well-established history.