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• At a ceremony on Oct. 16 to award the annual Planeta literary prize in Spain, fans of author Carmen Mola were stunned to learn that the author is actually three male writers: Agustin Martinez, Jorge Diaz and Antonio Mercero, who were on hand to accept the award.
Mola's unpublished novel "The Beast" won 1 million euros with the prize. Mola had been described as a female university professor living in Madrid who uses a pseudonym, People.com reported, but after the reveal, Diaz said, "We are three friends who one day four years ago decided to combine our talent to tell a story."
Some have called the trio "scammers," but Mercero argued, "We didn't hide behind a woman, we hid behind a name." [People.com, 10/18/2021]