The Cabra City Council announces the 2027 Juan Valera Novel Prize

The Cabra City Council has announced the 2027 “Juan Valera” Prize – Novel, with an award of 600 euros and the publication of the winning work in the municipal collection dedicated to the competition. The rules are published via extract in the Official Gazette of the Province of Córdoba number 210, dated October 29, 2026, with official reference BOP-A-2026-3654, and the deadline for the submission of originals closes on January 8, 2027.

Official Publication and Regulatory Framework

The extract is disseminated under articles 17.3.b and 20.8.a of Law 38/2003, of November 17, General Law on Subsidies, and refers to the full text deposited in the National Subsidies Database, with identifier BDNS 938125. The call for entries was signed in Cabra on October 23, 2026, by the mayor, Fernando Priego Chacón, and occupies pages 15633 to 15635 of the provincial gazette.

The Cabra City Council, the hometown of Juan Valera, justifies the competition based on the need to support literary creation, promote the novel as a form of artistic expression in Spanish letters, and reclaim the author’s figure as a distinguished novelist.

Requirements and Submission of Originals

Writers of any nationality may apply, with novels written in the Spanish language, which must be original, unpublished, and not previously awarded in any other contest. Works shall be submitted signed with a pseudonym and accompanied by a sealed envelope containing the contestant’s identification.

• Length exceeding 100 sheets and a maximum of 250 pages, typed with 1.5 line spacing.
• Single-sided printing, in Times New Roman font, size 12.
• Sent in duplicate via postal mail to Premio “Juan Valera” 2027 – Novela, Delegación de Cultura, Teatro “El Jardinjito”, avenida Fernando Pallarés número 8, primera planta, 14940 Cabra (Córdoba).
• Written certification from the author signed with a pseudonym, guaranteeing the authorship, originality, and availability of the rights to the work.

Financial Award and Publishing Rights

The prize amounts to 600 euros, charged to budgetary application 3341 48100 of the municipal budget, and is completed by the publication of the novel in the Juan Valera Novel Prize Collection, promoted by the Cabra City Council. The amount is subject to the corresponding IRPF (income tax) withholding, and the jury may declare the prize void by qualified majority if sufficient quality is not found.

The winning author will also receive 15 percent of the total 250 published volumes and will assign to the council the copyrights for the first edition and the digital edition of the work, which may be managed by the municipal Publications Service or through an external publishing house.

Calendar, Jury, and Criteria

The admission period begins the day following its publication in the bulletin and concludes on January 8, 2027. The verdict will be reached in the second week of June, and the award ceremony will take place on June 24, 2027, during the tribute that Cabra pays to Juan Valera on the occasion of his name day, featuring a commemorative plaque and diplomas for honorable mentions. The presence of the winner is mandatory, and the jury’s decision shall be final.

The jury is presided over by the mayor and includes the Councilor for Culture, a representative from the University of Córdoba, a representative from the Royal Academy of Sciences, Belles Lettres and Noble Arts of Córdoba, a representative from the Language Department of a city institute, an official chronicler of Cabra, and a university professor specializing in Valera’s work. The evaluation criteria are:

• Quality of writing, precision, and richness of language.
• Originality of the proposal and personality of the narrative voice.
• Construction of the novel and internal coherence of the structure.
• Mastery of narrative resources: point of view, time, space, and dialogue.
• Characterization of characters and configuration of settings.
• Depth of the literary treatment, avoiding clichés and predictable solutions.

The winning work must be sent in .doc or .docx format to the address cultura@cabra.es. Non-winning originals will be destroyed starting the day after the award ceremony, although their return by mail or personal pickup at the Delegation of Culture may be requested during the following 15 days.

Impact on the literary sector

The call for entries consolidates a benchmark competition for Andalusian letters and offers authors of any nationality a path to publication in a municipal collection linked to the memory of Juan Valera. The financial endowment is modest, but the publication of the work and the projection of the event on June 24 make the prize a relevant platform for unpublished narratives in the Spanish language.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Province of Córdoba, No. 210, October 29, 2026, Local Administration, pp. 15633-15635 (official reference: BOP-A-2026-3654).