Writer Joxan Oiz will receive the Xabier Lete Literature Scholarship

Joxan Oiz Arruti will receive, by decision of a jury of experts, the third edition of the Xabier Lete Scholarship for Literary Creation in Euskera, promoted by the Basque Government and the BBVA Foundation, which will receive 70,000 euros, so that he can carry out a literary project for one year.

The book project presented by Oiz is about the friendship between two 20th century architectures pioneers of the rationalist movement in Spain: José Manuel Aizpurua, protagonist of the novel, and Joaquín Labaien, narrator. Both were authors of famous rationalist buildings, but one was Falangist and the other jeltzale, explains the report of the committee of experts.

The provisional title of the project is The Rationalist , and will focus on the figure of Aizpurua, a character with many edges and contradictions in the days leading up to his shooting in 1936.

Joxan Oiz Arruti was born in San Sebastián in 1968. After studying and graduating from Basque Philology, he worked as a journalist in Argia magazine and in Euskaldunon Egunkaria. Since 1992 he has been a professor of History, Basque Language and Literature in San Sebastián, although he resides in Tolosa.

In 2006 he published Beñat Dardo , a fictional historical recreation of the life of Bernard Etxepare. In 2025 he premiered in the black novel genre with Amazurtza , set in 19th century San Sebastian.

The committee of experts that evaluated the proposals of this third edition was chaired by the writer and literary critic Jon Kortazar Uriarte, who was accompanied by Alex Gurrutxaga Muxika, Katixa Agirre Miguelez, Aritz Galarraga Lopetegi and Lourdes Otaegi Imaz.

This is the third call for the Xabier Lete scholarship. Last year, in its second edition, the winner was writer Patxi Zubizarreta, with the project The Woman Who Looked at the Man Who Looked at the Birds. The first one was Eider Rodriguez.