Literary award · Venezuela · since 1964

Rómulo Gallegos Prize

Award. Established 1964 in Venezuela.

About Rómulo Gallegos Prize

The Rómulo Gallegos International Novel Prize (Spanish: Premio internacional de novela Rómulo Gallegos) was created on 6 August 1964 by a presidential decree enacted by Venezuelan president Raúl Leoni, in honor of the Venezuelan writer and President Rómulo Gallegos, the author of Doña Bárbara. The declared purpose of the prize is to "perpetuate and honor the work of the eminent novelist and also to stimulate the creative activity of Spanish language writers". It is awarded by the government of Venezuela, through the offices of the Rómulo Gallegos Center for Latin American Studies (CELARG). The first prize was given in 1967. It was awarded every five years until 1987, when it became a biennial award. The award includes a cash prize of €100,000 making it among the richest literary prizes in the world.

From the Wikipedia article “Rómulo Gallegos Prize”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recent winners

YearWinnerWinning work
2025Vicente Battista—
2020Perla SuezEl país del diablo
2015Pablo MontoyaNone
2013Eduardo Lalo—
2011Ricardo Piglia—
2009William Ospina—
2007Elena Poniatowska—
2005Isaac Rosa Camacho—
2003Fernando Vallejo—
2001Enrique Vila-Matas—
1999Roberto Bolaño—
1999Jesús Díaz—
1999The Savage Detectives—

From Wikidata; the list may be incomplete for some years.

Eligibility and entering

Check the official rules of the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.

Sources & data