Magela Baudoin, Marcelo Luján and Mónica Ojeda, among the finalists of the Ribera del Duero Award

The writers Magela Baudoin (Caracas, 46 years old), Patricia Esteban Erlés (Zaragoza, 47 years old), Marcelo Luján (Buenos Aires, 46 years old), Ricardo Menéndez Salmón (Gijón, 49 years old) and Mónica Ojeda (Guayaquil, 31 years old) are the five finalists of the sixth edition of the Ribera del Duero Awards, which is endowed with 50,000 euros.

The works that compete for the prize are Death will come and will have your eyes , of Baudoin; Neither here nor anywhere else , by Esteban Erlés; The clarity , of Luján; Some hypotheses about the end of the world , by Menéndez Simón; and The world above and the world below , from Ojeda. The texts were chosen from a total of 1,079 that were nominated by writers from 30 countries.

Nearly 50% of the postulated works were written by authors residing in Spain. However, there has been a greater international presence. Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela are the countries that have most responded to the call, which also brought together writers from countries where Spanish is not spoken, such as Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Brazil or Canada.

The winner of the award, granted by the Regulatory Council of the Denomination of Origin Ribera del Duero and the publisher Pages de Espuma, will be announced on March 24 at the Circle of Fine Arts in Madrid. Among the authors who have been distinguished with the award are Argentina's Samanta Schweblin and Mexicans Antonio Ortuño and Guadalupe Nettel.