(From 2nd-L) Winners of Spain's 2021 Premio Planeta award Jorge Diaz, Antonio Mercero and Augustin Martinez receive the trophy for their novel "La Bestia", written under the pseudonym Carmen Mola
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)On Friday, three Spanish men were revealed to be behind the highly acclaimed award thriller La Bestia (The Beast in English) - under the pseudonym Carmen Mola.
At the glamorous Planeta Awards, the Carmen Mola name was used by three television scriptwriters who decided to step out from the shadows of anonymity to obtain their 1 million euro prize award.
While receiving the special prize, the trio stated that Carmen Mola wasn’t real, leaving onlookers in the audience, including the King and Queen of Spain Felipe and Letizia, in disbelief.
CNN reported that Carmen Mola is portrayed as a ‘Madrid-born author’ on “her” agent’s website and has even been compared to Italian novelist Elena Ferrante.
The website showcased images of an incognito woman turned away from the camera and stated that the author is writing under a pen name, hoping to remain anonymous.
But when it was time to accept the revered award, the scriptwriters, Agustín Martínez, Jorge Díaz and Antonio Mercero, unveiled the truth that they were behind the name, despite previously indicating that they were Mola had a husband and child, and a female university professor in Spanish media interviews.
The 1 million euro Planeta Award in literature was granted to Carmen Mola, a well-known Spanish novelist. When Mola's name was brought out at a ceremony on Friday, three men—TV script writers—proved to be the real authors behind her books. pic.twitter.com/aQLW0CdnWu
— Plat4om (@Plat4omLive) October 18, 2021
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The story, which won the Planeta prize, was a historical thriller that took place in 1834 around the cholera epidemic. It chronicles the hunt for a serial killer by a young woman, journalist and policeman.
The grimness of Mola’s novels, compared to her apparent profession and daily livelihood, was previously named a “good marketing operation” by the El Mundo newspaper.
Beatriz Gimeno, who was a previous director of the Women’s Institute in Madrid, Spain, took to her Twitter to criticise the men for using the pseudonym and partaking in interviews for years,
“It is not only the name; it is the false profile with which it has taken readers and journalists. Scammers,” she wrote, in part.
Más allá de la utilización de un pseudónimo femenino es que estos tipos llevan años contestando entrevistas. No es solo el nombre es el perfil falso con el que ha tomado a lectorxs y periodistas. Timadores.
— Beatriz Gimeno (@BeatrizGimeno1) October 16, 2021
Check out what other people had to say about the shocking revelation.
So the biggest literary award (1 million euros) was just announced yesterday in Spain and it was given to a noir female writer, with the pen name Carmen Mola, who was then revealed to actually be three white men.
— Sofia 🌻🦄🦋 (@pamericachavez) October 16, 2021
You can’t make this shit up.
Hello, we are Carmen Mola pic.twitter.com/A097y8t8Uy
— Adrián Hernández (@adrianherfer) October 16, 2021
For the record, I do not believe this is an effective means for men to raise the voices of women.https://t.co/xqjoyY1vZA
— Brian Hofmeister (@HoffyMN) October 18, 2021
Authentic, lived experience cannot be faked. pic.twitter.com/7Zm1WF1HLk
— Peter Boghossian (@peterboghossian) October 17, 2021
Men use a woman’s persona - not just a name - to sell novels about extreme violence often against women & in the case of this prize dismembered girls! And they are awarded a prize? Female Spanish thriller writer Carmen Mola revealed to be three men https://t.co/LtDrfUZNBo
— Jennie Popay (@Popay100) October 17, 2021
Carmen Mola was just three guys stacked on top of each other in a trenchcoat. https://t.co/rb6u8mju2a
— HauntedHammelHimself (@TalkingHammel) October 17, 2021
Three white men, co-authorship, gender identity fraud, benefiting from patronage reserved for marginalised female voices in literature; how is this ethical and lawful? How is literary patronage regulated? This is absurd beyond belief. #CarmenMola #dkpol https://t.co/KIMxPbdYeM
— SK (@sak3hn) October 17, 2021
Last year, Mola’s work was previously included in the Women’s Institute’s selection of “feminist reading.”
The selection of works included other authors such as Margaret Atwood, the author of The Handmaid’s Tale, which inspired a Hulu series of the same name.
Mola is still listed as an author of three books, excluding La Bestia on Penguin Random House’s website, although the three men have blatantly admitted to their authorship.
