Clara Usón Vegas won the Femenino Lumen prize in 1998 for her first novel, "Las noches de San Juan" ("Saint John's Eves"). She went on to publish "Primer vuelo" ("First Flight") (2001) and "El viaje de las palabras" ("The Journey of Words") (2005). In 2006 she published her fourth novel "Persuigedoras" ("Pursuers") and critics acknowledged her career as that of a first rate writer who has made creativity her hallmark, "which, combined with a notable enthusiasm for storytelling, in the legitimate sense of the expression, stands out as the quality that distinguishes this heir of Chekhov" (Pilar Castro, El Cultural, El Mundo).