The novel ‘Mentir la verdad’, penned by Argentine author Ariel Magnus, has been honored with the IV Premio de Novela Ciudad de Estepona, a prestigious award worth 25,000 euros organized by the Manuel Alcantara Foundation and the Estepona City Council in collaboration with Editorial Pre-Textos. This literary prize, championed by Estepona’s mayor José María García Urbano from the beginning, has become a significant initiative in promoting literature and enhancing the city’s cultural reputation. The ceremony for the award presentation took place at the auditorium of the Mirador del Carmen Center in Costa del Sol, where notable figures like councilman Daniel Garcia, Foundation president Antonio Pedraza, publisher Manuel Borras, and writer Guillermo Busutil were in attendance. Following the event, Ariel Magnus engaged in a colloquium with Guillermo Busutil to delve into various aspects of the award-winning novel. The day concluded with a performance by singer Javier Ojeda. ‘Mentir la verdad’ delves into the story of Heinrich Jürges, a character who transitioned from Nazism in Europe to South America, where he played a part in various movements and orchestrated the infamous Patagonia plot using counterfeit documents, resulting in the banning of Hitler’s party activities in Argentina. By blending reality with fiction, Ariel Magnus crafts a narrative spanning four decades and two continents, featuring political and cultural icons like Perón, Borges, Kafka, and Paul Zech. The novel explores the complexities of the press during turbulent times and the struggles of individuals handling sensitive information. The jury president Ignacio Martínez de Pisón described the work as ‘a journey to the roots of political deception’, asserting that ‘the Nazis were the pioneers of information manipulation’. The panel of judges, which reviewed nearly 800 submissions, comprised well-known figures from the Spanish literary and journalistic circles. Ariel Magnus, born in 1975 into a German-Jewish family in Buenos Aires, has penned a plethora of works covering various themes and genres. Since 2020, he has been residing in Germany, where he pursues a career as a literary translator. The City of Estepona Novel Prize has garnered global attention since its inception, attracting submissions from writers worldwide. Notable past winners include Mexican author Miguel Tapia, Manuel Moya, and Marina Perezagua. The 2023 edition of the prize received 771 entries from Spain, Europe, and Latin America, solidifying its international standing as a platform for emerging voices in contemporary literature.