David Toscana Wins Alfaguara Spanish Prize for His Novel The Blind Army

Mexican writer David Toscana (1961), residing in Madrid, won the 29th edition of the "Alfaguara" Novel Prize for his novel "The Blind Army," which he submitted under the pseudonym "Cozaro the Writer." The award ceremony took place on Tuesday at the Cibeles Palace, the headquarters of the Madrid City Council. Toscana is considered one of the most famous Latin American novelists in the world, and his books have been translated into countless languages, including Arabic.

The prize is valued at 175,000 dollars, and the winner receives a sculpture by artist Martín Chirino. The novel will also be published throughout the Spanish-speaking world, with a release date in bookstores on March 26. The jury awarded the prize by a majority vote to this historical novel.

The novel tells the story of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, who ordered the blinding of 15,000 Bulgarian soldiers. The committee noted that "the writer weaves a moving and powerful allegorical tale, moving away from traditional historical narrative, to present a symbolic, almost mythical, reading of war, power, and resistance."

The Madrid-based writer said: "Humor addresses the reader's intelligence, and it is an essential element in my novels. I speak of events that occurred more than a thousand years ago, but they still reflect our contemporary reality." He continued: "Today we read the Iliad, and it still reflects our reality. This is the power of novels."

Toscana had previously won the Vargas Llosa Literary Prize for his Spanish novel "The Burden of Living on Earth." By winning this recent award, he succeeds Argentine writer Guillermo Saccomanno, who won it in 2025. The jury was chaired by Mexican writer Jorge Volpi, and included Argentine writer Agustina Bazterrica, Mexican Brenda Navarro, literary researcher, editor, and cultural organizer Camila Enrich, journalist and director of Página Dos Óscar López, and Pilar Reyes, editorial director of Alfaguara magazine, who had the right to participate without voting.

Toscana studied at the American Institute in Monterrey, and earned a degree in Industrial Engineering and Systems Engineering from the Technological Institute of Higher Studies in the same city. He began writing at the age of twenty-nine. He joined the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in 1994, and the Berlin Artists Program in 2003. A total of 1140 manuscripts participated in the prize, including 524 from Spain, 171 from Argentina, 169 from Mexico, 109 from Colombia, 62 from the United States, 49 from Chile, 34 from Peru, and 22 from Uruguay.

Humor addresses the reader's intelligence, and it is an essential element in my novels. I speak of events that occurred more than a thousand years ago, but they still reflect our contemporary reality.