Between November 7 and 9, the town of Xàbia will host the eighth edition of the Xàbia Negra festival, a well-established event on the national scene that will fill different spaces in the municipality with almost twenty literary, audiovisual, and educational activities dedicated to the noir and crime genre.
Rosa Montero, La Criminala award
The popular writer Rosa Montero heads the list of guests at this eighth edition of Xàbia Negra and will receive the La Criminala award for her original contribution to crime fiction, incorporating relevant elements from other genres, such as science fiction, and adding her own unique perspective on society.
Rosa Montero is one of our best national writers, whose achievements speak for themselves: Primavera Novel Prize, Qué Leer Prize 2004 and 2005, Grinzane Cavour Prize (Italy) in 2005, “Roman Primeur” Prize 2006 (France) and Grand Prix Littéraire de Saint-Emilion, Pomerol, Fronsac (2005-2006), Mandarache Prize 2007, Readers’ Prize at the Cognac European Literature Festival (France, 2011); Madrid Critics Prize (2014) and Prix du Livre Robinsonnais 2016 in the Romans étrangers category of the Bibliothèque du Plessis Robinson, International Columnists of the World Prize 2014, Honorary Prize of the Panama Negro Festival 2020, Violeta Negra Occitanie Prize 2020 of the Toulouse Polars du Sud Festival in France.
In 2017, she received the National Prize for Literature, and in 2022, she won the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts, as well as the Special Prize at the 33rd RNE "El Ojo Crítico" Awards. In 2024, she was appointed Officière des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic, and a year later, she was awarded the 2025 Liber Prize for the most outstanding Latin American author.
Her work has been translated into some thirty languages, she holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Puerto Rico and is an Honorary Professor of the Academic Department of Humanities at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
Rosa Montero will receive the La Criminala award on Friday, November 7, just before her meeting with readers, which will take place at 20:00 p.m.
A live podcast at the Xàbia municipal market
The festival will begin on Friday at noon, in an unprecedented setting in recent years such as the municipal market of Xàbia, where podcaster Ana Mendoza will interview criminologist and television personality Carmen Corazzini about her book Beast people, which portrays well-known Spanish psychopaths. The meeting will be recorded live as a special episode of the show. Chronicles of the Rue Morgue, which last year received the gold medal at the IVOOX awards.
Regarding true crime, Vicente Garrido will also present his latest work, Passion for killing on Saturday the 8th at the Sotavent restaurant, after the literary vermouth.
The figure of the psychopath
The figure of the criminal psychopath is part of the genre and has been explored in both fiction and true crime. Joaquín Camps, winner of the 2019 Azorín Prize, addresses this personality type in his latest novel within an upper-class setting. Meanwhile, Telecinco news anchor and criminologist Carmen Corazzini has compiled in her most recent book the portrayal of this personality throughout history in its best examples, so they'll be ready to provide all the answers on this fascinating topic.
Marta Robles exclusively presents her latest novel
The popular writer Marta Robles arrives in Xàbia Negra to present her new novel. Beloved Charlotte, the latest installment from the charismatic detective Tony Roures. Written at the pace of a thriller, with the elegance of fine prose and a shocking truth, Marta Robles writes her finest work. We'll discuss with her how genre novels can house powerful social mechanisms that move us to take action in the face of a reality we may overlook.
New voices of the thriller in Xàbia Negra
Sònia Valiente and Javier Alandes, two of the latest voices in the Spanish crime genre, will discuss the thriller, the star ingredient of contemporary literature, which they combine in different ways. Javier Alandes presents The Bronze King, where she chooses to blend the adventure thriller with the world of universal art. Sònia Valiente, for her part, interweaves dramatic elements such as oblivion with others such as geopolitics, climate disaster, and artificial intelligence.
Writers' Battle, book clubs, guided tours, and express short films
In addition, the festival offers a wide variety of activities, including reading clubs in Spanish and Valencian, which will correspond to the authors Joaquín Camps with The darkness that dwells within me and Natalia Gisbert, who presents the novel that won the Valencia Negra 2025 Best Novel Award, After the saltThese acts will take place in the municipal library from the center and in the Casa del Cable.
Classic festival events will also be on offer, such as the literary vermouth, which will be held on the morning of Saturday the 8th at the Sotavent restaurant. This is a relaxed activity where guests share incredible anecdotes not usually heard at literary events. As a new feature this year, an exclusive crime scavenger hunt is scheduled throughout November to solve a mystery in the library. There will also be three exclusive events at Xàbia's educational centers, where students can enjoy an immersion in a narrative genre full of mysteries and challenges.
As the festival's culmination, on Sunday morning, the 9th, Xàbia Negra will revive the dramatized tour of La Criminal, a historical figure associated with the town, in a memorable experience. In addition, at the Cultural Center, four authors will participate in the Writers' Battle, during which they will have to write a story with different elements in just four minutes, which will then be voted on by the audience. The program will close with the awards ceremony for the Express Short Film Competition.
A total of 19 activities are being offered, for all audiences and in various locations throughout the town, to ensure a memorable weekend.
The Councilor for Culture of Xàbia, Mavi Pérez, expressed his enthusiasm for the multidisciplinary nature of the festival, which brings together numerous renowned authors. He invited the public to participate in the various activities, including the original literary vermouth, and reminded everyone that the municipal libraries will remain open throughout the weekend.
The director of Xàbia Negra, Santiago Álvarez, emphasized that "this new edition continues to explore the town's unique character as a place for leisure and cultural enjoyment, and all of the festival's activities emphasize this same distinctive aspect. People come to Xàbia Negra to have a good time, but also to discover and learn." Álvarez also thanked the municipal government team "for their determined commitment to culture, at a time when it is more necessary than ever."
