The jury of the IX International Prize “Ramos Ópticos” for the best jazz short story, which is organized by the Jazz Palencia International Festival and sponsored by the Palencia optical firm, has decided to award the prize to writer Miguel Barrero for his story “The Man Who Still Remembered Lester Young”, a narrative that has earned the jury’s recognition for its strong literary craft and its ability to transport the reader into the world of jazz.
The jury has particularly highlighted the quality of its extraordinary dialogues that integrate naturally into the development of the story and contribute to building a narrative of notable narrative solidity. It has also valued the realism with which the author recreates the jazz atmosphere, in a work that places music at the center of the literary experience.
Miguel Barrero (Oviedo, 1980) is a writer and journalist. Throughout his career he has collaborated with numerous media outlets and cultural publications. He is the author of a broad body of narrative and essay work that includes titles such as Espejo (2005), Los últimos días de Michi Panero (2008), Camposanto en Collioure (2015), El rinoceronte y el poeta (2017), La otra orilla (2023) and El guitarrista de Montreal (2025), the latter focusing on the relationship between Federico García Lorca and Leonard Cohen’s musical vocation. His career has been recognized, among others, with the Asturias Joven de Narrativa, Juan Pablo Forner, the International Prize of Literature of the Antonio Machado Foundation and the Rodolfo Walsh. Since late 2023 he directs Semana Negra de Gijón.
The Asturian writer will receive a cash prize of 2,000 euros, as well as a set of books valued at 200 euros from the Menoscuarto publishing house, a collaborator of the award.
The presentation of the prize will take place during the inaugural concert of the Jazz Palencia International Festival, on November 7 at the Teatro Principal in Palencia.
Runner-up for Javier Mulfó for “Mr. Cent & J. Falace”
The runner-up prize, endowed with 300 euros and a bundle of Menoscuarto books valued at 200 euros, has gone to Javier Mulfó for his story “Mr. Cent & J. Falace”. The jury particularly valued the originality of the proposal and its superb reconstruction of jazz memory, tackled from a narrative perspective in which the use of lighthearted and intelligent humor stands out.
Mulfó is a pianist and has undertaken various creative writing workshops, two realms—the musical and the literary—that converge in this story, distinguished by the jury. His proposal recovers the memory of jazz through a singular gaze, in which humor becomes an expressive resource at the service of narration.
According to the competition rules, both the winning story and the runner-up will be part of a special publication to be edited to coincide with the celebration of the November musical cycle. The book will be distributed free to festival attendees and will also be available in bookstores and libraries throughout Spain.
The festival promoter, editor José Ángel Zapatero, has highlighted the collaboration of Ramos Ópticos in maintaining this literary prize, an initiative that helps spread the International Jazz Palencia Festival beyond its musical programming and to strengthen the ties between two artistic expressions, literature and jazz, which share a long tradition of mutual influences.
A jury chaired by José María Merino
The jury for this ninth edition has been composed of José María Merino, writer and academic of the Royal Spanish Academy; José Ángel Zapatero, editor and promoter of the festival; Guillermo Ramos, businessman and sponsor of the Prize; Luis Alberto de Cuenca, writer, literary critic and academic of History; and José Miguel López, journalist and former director of the Discópolis program on Radio Nacional de España.
With this decision, the International ‘Ramos Ópticos’ Prize for the best jazz short story reaches its ninth edition and remains committed to fostering literary creation inspired by this musical genre, incorporating the written word into the cultural activity that the Jazz Palencia International Festival carries out each autumn.