Leire Bilbao Barruetabeña has been awarded the 2025 National Prize for Children's and Youth Literature for her work 'Klera,' published by Elkar. The Spanish Ministry of Culture grants the award, which carries a €30,000 prize. The jury selected Bilbao's work for what it described as "the poetic beauty with which the author, drawing on different artistic disciplines, especially illustration, presents a proposal with an implicit commitment to culture, peace, and coexistence."
The 47-year-old author from Bizkaia holds a degree in Economic Law from the University of Deusto and has published numerous children's books throughout her career. Her previous works include 'Xomorropoemak,' which won the 2017 Euskadi Literature Prize, 'Bichopoemas y otras bestias,' which received the 2019 Kirico Prize, and 'Etxeko Urak,' awarded the 2021 Lauaxeta Prize. Bilbao's adult poetry has been translated into multiple languages and appears in various anthologies.
'Klera' represents an interdisciplinary approach to children's literature, combining Bilbao's writing with illustrations by June San Sebastian, music by Maite Larburu, and dance choreography by Jon Maya's Kukai Dantza company. The project aims to make complex themes of conflict, war, and death accessible to young readers through artistic expression. The jury noted that the work "is written with a profound lyrical charge and a powerful message, an example and lesson of literature without labels."
The book was recently presented at the Azoka de Durango as a project seeking to reflect the horror of war from a child's perspective through artistic means. The transmedia work joins previous winners of the national prize including Mónica Rodríguez, Rafael Salmerón, and Beatriz Giménez de Ory. Bilbao's first poetry collection, 'Ezkatak,' was published in 2006, followed by 'Scanner' in 2011, the bilingual 'Entre escamas' in 2018, and 'Etxeko urak' in 2020.
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