This recognition comes after five decades without Fabregat publishing a new work, breaking a long editorial silence since his previous publication, Falles folles fetes foc. The award-winning novel, published by Proa, has been highlighted by the jury of the 70th edition of the awards for its "deliberately neutral language, stripped of local marks and resistant to any superficial rootedness".
The plot of L'anell del nibelung follows the return of university professor Ernest Millet, a character obsessed with Wagner, to his hometown after forty years of absence. Fabregat explained that the idea for the novel arose from his own passion for the German composer and his attendance at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany, a process that took over ten years of intermittent writing.
“"I don't remember the exact moment of the idea; it's a river that comes from various banks and tributaries."
Despite his satisfaction with the award, Fabregat expresses his opposition to the "liturgy" of recognitions, although he appreciates the support of the Proa publishing house for "taking a risk" with a 600-page work that he himself describes as "different" and "not for all audiences." The novel is written in Eastern Catalan, his "literary language," influenced by authors such as Espriu, Villalonga, and Rodoreda, even though his daily and journalistic life unfolds in Spanish.
In addition to Fabregat's award, the Spanish Association of Literary Critics also honored other notable works. Marcos Giralt Torrente received the award for best narrative in Spanish for Los ilusionistas, while Pablo García Casado was recognized in Spanish poetry and Sebastià Alzamora in Catalan poetry. Awards were also given to works in Galician and Basque, and to El jardinero y la muerte by Gueorgui Gospodínov as the best book in a foreign language.
