Dr. Atienza received the recognition with his first narrative novel "Y olvidé su nombre" [And I Forgot his Name]. He received the award personally from Ramón Hernández, an award-winning Spanish writer in the 1970s and 1980s, for whom the award is named. The award ceremony occurred at the Centro Riojano in Madrid, Spain, on October 6, 2023.

The novel is written in Spanish and set in Madrid in the 1980s. In this novel, Dr. Atienza explores friendship, love, suffering, and revenge as engines of change from childhood to adolescence. The scene was set in Madrid in the 1980s during the political transition from Francisco Franco's dictatorship to democracy.

The award was open to any novel written in the Spanish language with at least 100 pages.

One of the judges remarked that Dr. Atienza's novel offers extraordinary strength, and its style is so "rare."

Atienza said that his experiences living in Guam and teaching at UOG helped him to write the novel.

“It has allowed me to deepen my understanding of humanity by always being in contact with people from different cultures in a context of respect and search for mutual understanding,” Dr. Atienza said. “This dialogue and the distance from Madrid, the city where I grew up, helped develop these sensitivities that are fundamental to analyzing the human soul and writing about its passions.”  

He said he constantly thinks of ideas for stories and immediately puts his thoughts to paper because the amount of time he spends writing takes away moments with his loved ones. 

“I can't get stuck looking at a blank page. They are my motivation,” Dr. Atienza said. 

The book can be found on Ediciones Vitruvio https://nuevoateneoonline.com/products/y-olvide-su-nombre-de-david-atienza-de-frutos 

For more information, contact: 

Dr. David Atienza at datienza@triton.uog.edu.