Liliana Colanzi, an assistant professor of Romance studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, has won the Ribera del Duero prize, honoring the best short stories in Latin America and Spain. She was honored for her book Ustedes Brillan en lo Oscuro which in English means You Glow in the Dark. The prize includes an award of €25,000.
The prize jury this year was presided over by Spanish author and journalist Rosa Montero, who chose Dr. Colanizi’s collection of short stories out of more than a thousand submissions from 37 countries across Latin America and Spain. The collection is forthcoming from the Spain-based imprint Páginas de Espuma.
“I’m very happy about the award, and I would like to thank my colleagues, our students, and the administrative staff, who have always supported me. I’m glad that I’m in a place where the writing of fiction is highly valued,” Dr. Colanzi said.
Dr. Colanzi is the author of two previous short story collections – Vacaciones Permanentes (2012) and Nuestro Mundo Muerto (2014). She won Mexico’s Aura Estrada literary award in 2015 and was named among the best Latin American writers under 40 by the Hay Festival Cartagena in 2017.
Dr. Colanzi holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Cornell University.