A historical novel written by a relatively unknown author in Uruguay has been released by Grupo Nelson, Thomas Nelson's Spanish division, after winning the publisher's first Christian fiction writing contest.

Columnas de humo: Un peregrinaje a la esperanza by Álvaro Pandiani (Columns of smoke: a pilgrimage to hope), which released March 10, is set in 1857 when a yellow fever epidemic swept through Montevideo, Uruguay--the author's home city.

"We're really pleased to publish the inaugural winner of our fiction-writing contest," Grupo Nelson Vice President Larry Downs Jr. told Christian Retailing. "It shows our commitment to original Spanish fiction while giving a venue to voiceless writers who want to write fiction."

Downs said it was significant that the winning entry in the competition, chosen last October from 120 authors from across Latin America, Spain and the U.S., came from Uruguay.

"If we had selected an author from Mexico, Colombia or Argentina, people might say, ‘They're just going to where the sales are.' But Uruguay is one of the smallest markets in Latin America," Downs said. "We're looking for the best authors, regardless of where they live."

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