Upcoming
Competition
Sara secures a temporary position in an office, hoping to be made permanent. Inside the giant, impenetrable building where she works—a place of incomprehensible hierarchies—no one explains her duties to her, forcing her to improvise. Seeking a sense of purpose and ways to combat her boredom, she takes small yet subversive initiatives, ignoring their disciplinary consequences.
A dystopian novel that examines the problem of workplace alienation, the lack of personal purpose, and the modern existential void through a sharp, relentlessly rhythmic narrative.
Author:
Sara Mesa
Translation:
Konstantinos Paleologos
Publication:
2026
Categories:
Literature, Books, Foreign Literature
Sara Mesa
Sara Mesa was born in Madrid in 1976 and moved with her family to Seville at a young age, where she still lives today. She studied journalism and Spanish literature.
Her poetry collection *Este jilguero agenda* won the 2007 Miguel Hernández Poetry Prize. Her book *Cuatro por Cuatro* (2013) was shortlisted for the Herralde Novel Prize, whilst *Cicatriz* (2015) won the El Ojo Crítico Prize. Behind the Bushes (Ikaros, 2019) impressed international critics with its remarkable approach to social norms and its vivid language. *A Love Affair* (Ikaros, 2020) won the 2021 Spanish Booksellers’ Award, was shortlisted for the 2022 Strega Europeo Prize, and was described by the newspapers *El País*, La Vanguardia, El Cultural and El Correo as the most important book of 2020. *The Family* (Ikaros, 2023) won the 2022 Cálamo Extraordinario Prize and is already being translated into more than seven languages.
