Young authors from Matanzas obtain mentions in literary contests.

The awards ceremony will take place on February 19th at the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress, in the context of the 33rd Havana International Book Fair.

Three people from Matanzas obtained mentions in important national literary awards. Héctor Raúl Rivero, poet and designer at Ediciones Vigía, won in New Voices of Poetry 2024, a contest sponsored by Ediciones La Luz, from Holguín, for his notebook Nenúfar en una foto antigua (Water lily in an old photo).

The jury, made up of Pinar del Río writer Nelson Simón, Yumurina poet Laura Ruiz and Holguin writer Erián Peña, awarded the prize to Lorena Velázquez Fraga and the other mention went to Whitney Palma Pichardo.

See also: https://www.radio26.cu/noticias-de-matanzas/cultura/hector-rivero-el-poeta-que-crea-hermosos-disenos-en-vigia/

In the Calendar Award, the most important literary award granted by the Saiz Brothers Association (AHS), the work Las fértiles palabras de Altamira, by Luis Enrique Mirambert del Valle, stood out.

«It is a joy for any Cuban poet to receive recognition in the Calendar Award which is, without a doubt, one of the most important in our country for young authors and where more poets participate, very good young poets.

«The recognition really makes me very happy, also because there is another young woman from Matanzas who has also won a mention in this edition, a poet and storyteller whom I appreciate very much.

«I feel very happy. I hope the book comes out soon so that readers can have it and that everyone who is interested in young Cuban poetry can enjoy it.»

See also: https://mardesnudo.wordpress.com/2020/02/13/luis-enrique-mirambert-cuantas-ideas-pueden-nacer-en-la-mente-de-un-hombre-que-lee-entrevista/

Náthaly Hernández Chávez, who also won a prize in 2024 for La biblioteca de Alexa, this time for Las edades de hierro (The Iron Ages), deserved the same recognition.

See also: https://www.radio26.cu/noticias-de-matanzas/cultura/nathaly-hernandez-chavez-cada-libro-es-una-oportunidad-de-aprender-un-poco-mas/

«I am very happy, very honored, grateful to the jury of the Calendar for this mention. It is really a support and an encouragement to my poetry to be recognized by a jury with such an important award as the Calendar.

Las edades del hierro is a collection of poems that deals with memory, with the family, with life itself that has its stages, that progresses, that advances and of those stages that are often left behind, traces are left behind, objects that are somehow the memory of that and the incarnation of that.

«It is a collection of poems that goes from the everyday, from what represents the material to the immaterial; it spins from personal history and also from the history of a family or the history of a nation. It seeks to go from the micro to the macro and explore all these areas of meaning.

«I am happy to see it recognized and at some point to be able to share it with the poetry-reading public».

According to the publication in the digital platforms of the AHS, in the category of Poetry the third mention went to Lorena Velázquez for the work Autorretrato con daga and the prize went to Kintsugi, by Tomás Escobar Ávila.

The text Construyendo al hombre: imágenes de la masculinidad, by Alejandro Fernández, deserved the Calendar in Essay, while Anabel Amil Portal was distinguished in that section for Escribir desde los márgenes.

The AHS conferred the award in Narrative to Erián Peña Pupo, with Aquel verano en Woodstock, and the mention went to Raúl Leyva Pupo with his proposal Un regalo para Mapplethorpe (A gift for Mapplethorpe).

Taimí Diéguez Mallo was the winner in Theater for her work Manzanas, alas de ángel, while the text Los infortunados de estos tiempos, by Daryl Ortega López, won the award in Science Fiction.

The awards ceremony will take place on February 19th at the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress, in the context of the 33rd Havana International Book Fair.

On that day will be presented in print format La actualidad de la Revolución, by Iramís Rosique; El niño de las preguntas, by Lioneski Buquet; Cosas que arden sobre el pasto, by Wilfredo Roba; Versiones de la traductora, by Robert Báez and La biblioteca de Alexa, by Náthaly Hernández, texts awarded in 2024.

Written by Jessica Mesa.