Odd News
3 men win literary prize after posing as woman author
An acclaimed female author from Spain was recently revealed to be three men writing under a pseudonym.
One of Spain’s most popular crime writers, Carmen Mola, was awarded a million euros for winning the 2021 Premio Planeta literary prize. But when her name was announced at the glitzy awards ceremony on Friday, three men went onstage to receive the prize, according to news reports.
Jorge Diaz, Agustin Martinez, and Antonio Mercero are all accomplished writers in their own right. The three men, who have worked as scriptwriters for several television shows, came together to write novels under the pseudonym Carmen Mola.
The three deny that they chose a female pseudonym in order to sell more books. “We didn’t hide behind a woman, we hid behind a name,” Mr Mercero told a Spanish newspaper.
“I don’t know if a female pseudonym would sell more than a male one, I don’t have the faintest idea, but I doubt,” she said. Some critics, however, describe the authors as “scammers.”