Overview
- The manuscript was submitted under the pseudonym Ignacio Riviero and selected from 143 entries after a six‑finalist shortlist.
- The jury comprised Brenda Navarro, Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny and Julián Herbert, with Aguilar Zéleny abstaining due to prior acquaintance with the author.
- Organized by Penguin Random House with Librerías Gandhi, the prize offers cash support and a publication pathway for unpublished authors.
- Jurors praised the novel’s unreliable narrator, episodic structure and exploration of estrangement and emotional disconnection in cold, impersonal settings.
- Pérez Grovas, born in 1995, developed the book from experiences in Toronto and further work during creative‑writing study in El Paso.