CARTAGENA NEGRA 2026: Call for entries for the X Cartagena Negra Novel Prize and the VIII Icue Negro Novel Prize

The organizers of the Cartagena Negra crime fiction, detective, and mystery festival have opened the selection process for novels to compete for the 10th Cartagena Negra Novel Prize and the 8th Icue Negro Novel Prize, the latter intended for debut novels or authors in the genre. Novels must meet only three requirements:

• •Be written in Spanish and published in Spain
• •to be of a dark theme
• •have been published in the year 2025.

Therefore, all crime novels written in Spanish and published in Spain during the year 2025 are AUTOMATICALLY eligible for the awards. However, if any author or publisher wishes to submit a title, they may do so by sending two copies to the following postal address:

CARTAGENA NEGRA
Av. Pintor Portela 34-A, 5º D
30203 CARTAGENA

or contact the organization via email
at ctnegra@gmail.com.

 

During the first six months of 2026, the festival organizers will select the finalist works. The list of finalists will be published in mid-July, and the winner will be announced during the 12th edition of Cartagena Negra. The festival team will be responsible for choosing the winning novel. In previous editions, the Cartagena Negra Novel Prize has been awarded to renowned authors such as Rafa Melero, Pere Cervantes, Francisco Bescós, Marto Pariente, Javier Menéndez Flores, Men Marías, Reyes Calderón, Carlos Augusto Casas, and Carlos Bassas; meanwhile, the Icue Negro Prize has recognized the merits of debut authors such as Alicia Borrás, Jon Aramendía, Javier Marín, Mar Moreno, Antonio Domínguez, Vanessa Arrabal, and Juan Moreno Lorite.