Por Redaccion 
The work ‘Carnívora’ by the Castellonese Jordi Colonques Bellmunt has won the XXX edition of the Premi Enric Valor de Novel·la en Valencià, corresponding to the year 2024, organized by the Diputación de Alicante and endowed with 20,000 euros. The award ceremony will be this Wednesday afternoon at 8:00 p.m. at the Municipal Auditorium of Castalla.
The Minister of Culture, Juan de Dios Navarro, presented the selected novel along with the mayor of Castalla, Jesús López; the director of the Culture area of the provincial institution, María José Argudo, and the award-winning author, as reported by the Diputación in a statement.
Navarro valued the «level» of the sixteen works that competed in this edition and emphasized «the commitment of this institution to culture in all its aspects, with the responsibility that all citizens have access to it as a fundamental pillar of society.» He also highlighted «support for literature in Valencian as a transmitter of the richness of our roots.»
«It is a novel that leads to a deep reflection on our society, with a choral vision based on intense characters who fight their own personal battles in this struggle for collective survival,» the minister pointed out.
«‘Dystopian’ THRILLER»
Born in Castellón in 1976, although based in València, Colonques Bellmunt entered the contest under the pseudonym Silva and has a «long literary career in which he has accumulated notable awards and recognitions,» as explained by the Diputación.
A Ph.D. in Biology, the writer explained that ‘Carnívora’ is a social chronicle novel «written from an environmental point of view and set in València,» a dystopian thriller in which «the consequences of climate change and other social problems are raised due to an insect plague that attacks humans.»
The jury for this edition, chaired by Juan de Dios Navarro, was composed of provincial deputy Joaquín Perles, writer and winemaker Rafael Poveda, Catalan Philology doctors Isabel Marcillas and Maria Ángeles Francés, University CEU Cardenal Herrera professor Vicent Ferran, literary critic Carlos Ferrer Hammerlindl, and philologist Marc Senabre.
The literary prize awarded by the provincial institution recognizes the work undertaken by Enric Valor «for the normalization of the language of the Valencian Community from his roles as an author and researcher.»
«This discipline earned him significant recognitions such as the Letras Valencianas Award, granted by the City Council of València, the Sanchís Guarner Prize, the Sant Jordi Cross of the Government of Catalonia, or the Gold Medal of the Province of Alicante, posthumously awarded by the Diputación de Alicante,» the provincial institution recalled.