Prix Formentor

The Prix Formentor (also known as Premio Formentor de las Letras, Formentor Literature Prize and The Formentor Prize) is an international literary award given between 1961 and 1967. After a long break it was re-established in 2011. In the 1960s, the Formentor Group offered two prizes, the Prix Formentor (The Formentor Prize) and the Prix International (the International Prize); the former was given to previously unpublished works and the Prix International was given to works already in distribution. The prize takes its name from the town of Formentor on the Spanish island of Mallorca that was famous for its literary gatherings.

As of 2012, the award carries a cash prize of 50,000 euros ($65,000) given to a single author.

The 1950s saw an increasing expansion of the global interest in Hispanic literature. Looking for a way to further open up Spanish literature markets, Carlos Barral organised, through the publishing house Seix Barral, a series of annual meetings of publishers, novelists and critics. These 'Coloquio Internacional de Novela' ('International Colloquium of the Novel') were held in Formentor on the island of Majorca, Spain between 1959 and 1962, and were paid for by international publishers. The first meeting happened directly after celebrations for the 'Conversaciones de Poéticas de Formentor' '(The Conversations of the Poets of Formentor') 18–25 May 1959, inspired by novelist Camilo José Cela, and brought together a wide variety of multilingual poets.

The first Barral Coloquio (29–28 May 1959), focused on the political issues of the role of the novelist in societal change, specifically the new power of social realism, polarised by concerns to give primacy to technical form or political commitment.

The second Coloquio (2–5 May 1960) shifted focus towards the role of the publisher as aesthetic pioneer versus commercial entrepreneur. Prominent publishing houses from the US, Italy, the UK, France and Germany, as well as Spain, were present.It was at this Coloquio that the Formentor Group was formally founded. The group operated between 1960–68, dedicated to the dissemination of the contemporary literary avant garde, joined during this time by publishers from an array of nations, including Japan, Denmark and Holland. It was during this second annual gathering that the participants were tasked with formulating an international prize that would be awarded the following year.

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