2018 Puchi Award Gala

2019 Puchi Award hopefuls will be able to submit their proposals from the day of the gala, 11 October, until 31 January 2019. La Casa Encendida and the publishing house Fulgencio Pimentel will choose the most brilliant, innovative, free-spirited books in any genre, based solely on their boldness and their connection with different contemporary languages.

In 2018, the jury consisting of Berta García Faet (poet), Luis Venegas (editor and art director), Mónica Carroquino (culture coordinator at La Casa Encendida) and César Sánchez (editor at Fulgencio Pimentel) reviewed all the submitted projects and selected the prize winners:

• The 2nd Puchi Award went to Historia de España contada a las niñas by María Bastarós, a part-grotesque, part-Western ensemble novel in which the author paints a ruthless picture of the clichés that assault us on every cultural front: an incisive portrayal of our familiar reality that effectively debunks any preconceived notions about things like veganism, contemporary art or New Age feminism.

María Bastarós (Zaragoza, 1987) is a cultural manager, art historian, lecturer, writer and fanziner. Creator of the feminist cultural platform QuiénCoñoEs, she has contributed to publications such as Diagonal and Tentaciones, worked with the CAAM in Las Palmas, the MuVIM in Valencia, the Madrid gallery Nunca Nadie Nada No and other centres, and curated several exhibitions, including Muerte a los Grandes Relatos and Apropiacionismo, Disidencia y Sabotaje at Sala Juana Francés in Zaragoza. Bastarós is the co-author of Inclusive Love (Thyssen-Bornemisza), the first LGTBIQ guided tour in Spain, and the organiser of literary events like Aullido, a poetic “anti-jam” session. She has also co-authored the book Herstory (Lumen) and published the fanzines Brochetas de cosas emocionantes and Napalm Springs (Ediciones Motocobra).

• The Special Jury Prize was awarded to Ética para Julia by Ricardo Díaz Peris, a contemporary handbook on love and sexual relations where the author uses a combination of confessional writing, graphic humour and philosophical undertones to address his younger sister and any reader between the ages of 14 and 99, normalising adult-teen communication about sexual practices and choices in the Tinder era.

Ricardo Díaz Peris (Valencia, 1993) is a writer, illustrator and graphic designer. He studied Fine Art at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Maryland Institute College of Art (USA). He is currently working towards an MA in Visual Communication at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where he divides his time between studying, freelancing for different companies and magazines, and working on several book projects. Ética para Julia will be the first to appear in print.

• Finally, the jury gave a special mention to the book Ser Amado by Javier Lozano, a comic in which multiple interwoven plots form a rich and often hopeless tapestry of stories-within-stories, where dreaming and waking overlap on a journey that explores the concept of romantic love and its consequences.

Javier Lozano Jaén (Albacete, 1981) graduated with a BFA from the University of Castile-La Mancha, Cuenca (UCLM). He has juggled exhibitions and concerts with his prolific activity in the world of comics and publishing, having self-published numerous fanzines (F is for Freedom, For your eyes only, Rollo, Poyo, Guirthy Dick and others) as well as the photonovels Señora and Señoritos, created with Ángela Losa. Lozano has also worked with publishers like Pogobooks and Ediciones Puré and recently published the volumes Welcome (Belleza Infinita) and Demons (Frac de Medusas), a book consisting entirely of watercolours. He currently teaches drawing at the Istituto Europeo di Design Madrid and offers sporadic sessions of his famous Cómic Colectivo workshop at different venues.

Elsa de Alfonso y Los Prestigio is a Barcelona band that was born in autumn 2013, when the affected arrangements of Los Prestigio (formed by ex-members of Extraperlo and Doble Pletina) landed on Elsa’s songs, traditional Spanish coplas that describe the drama of a smile and vice versa. Their musical track record is an ode to the clichés of every era and to the new chaos, seriously affected by their circumstances: guitars, synthesisers, drum machines (involuntary Eighties twitch), a home studio and a rehearsal space with questionable acoustics. Elsa de Alfonso y Los Prestigio, who have released only one album to date (Desencuentros, Canada, 2014), will bring us a live performance brimming with a special, synthetic, sensual brand of pop energy.

Dea Gómez (Salamanca, 1989) and Diego Omil (Pontevedra, 1988) have worked together since 2012 as Los Bravú, a Galician word for animal odour. This creative duo has pursued a career in the world of contemporary experimental comics, interweaving drawing, painting, sculpture and photography. Their work has been published by Fulgencio Pimentel, Apa-Apa Comics and Fosfatina, and they have also released numerous self-publications. Their paintings and sculptures have been exhibited at galleries and international festivals, including El Parche in Bogotá, Festival International de la Bande Dessinée (FIBD) in Angoulême, JUSTMAD, Estampa Fair and Matadero Madrid. They are also represented in collections such as the DKV Collection and the collection of the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome.