It is our pleasure to announce that Nino Mick’s Vulcan and Joel Mauricio Isabel Ortiz’s Devotion have both been shortlisted for the newly launched Prisma Literature Prize in the category Novel of the Year. The prize aims to highlight and celebrate works that explore and rejuvenate queer literature and is a collaboration between Bögbibblan and Page 28. There are seven different categories and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on the 11th of December.
Here are the motivations for our two nominees.
Vulcan – In Vulcan, Nino Mick gives voice and body to stories from a time whose queer destinies are rarely depicted in literature. Through an innovative narrative technique, we are introduced to norm-breaking love and desire, both between people and through the insatiable zealousness of the dead.
Devotion – Devotion becomes deeply affecting by involving topics such as yearning, assault and how queer people’s childhood vulnerability can result in low self esteem. Joel Mauricio Isabel Ortiz does not shy away from anything in his story, which turns into a novel that challenges preconceptions surrounding queer relationships and which is permeated by tenderness and empathy.