At a press conference in the Manuel Galich room, at the headquarters of the prestigious Havana cultural center, Abel Prieto, its president, recalled that the Award is named after that cultural space conceived by the idea of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro and by the heroine Haydée Santamaria.
He highlighted this is a contest that is committed to the quality of the texts beyond financial remuneration, and that unlike other international awards, it banishes the vision of culture as a commodity, which is demonstrated in the number of participating works and authors.
Jorge Fornet, director of the Literary Research Center of Casa de las Américas, informed the jury in charge of evaluating the texts in the categories of Novel, Theater, Literature for children and young people and Essay on artistic-literary themes.
The jury will be made up of the Venezuelan director and actor Carlos Arroyo, the Colombian playwright Carlos Satizábal and the Cuban actor Fernando Hechavarría, who will review the 251 theatrical texts presented.
In the Novel category, around 700 works compete, which will be reviewed by Fabrizio Mejía, Mexican journalist and narrator; Hernán Ronsino, Argentine narrator and sociologist, and Lourdes de Armas, Cuban theaterologist.
During the meeting, Fornet highlighted the return to the team that will evaluate the Essays of the Guatemalan writer Arturo Arias together with Liliana Bellone, Argentine narrator and poet; and Leonardo Sarría, researcher and professor from this Caribbean island.
In Literature for children and young people, the Cuban singer-songwriter Liuba María Hevia, the Brazilian journalist Ricardo Fernandes, and the Dominican narrator and translator Geraldine de Santis will evaluate the proposals.
According to Casa de las Américas, Mexico, Argentina, Cuba and Colombia are the countries with the most texts in the event that on April 25 will present the winning books of the Prize in 2023, while on the 26th the awards ceremony in 2024 will be held.
As part of the programming of the prestigious literary award, on the 23rd at the Mariano Gallery, the exhibition “Popular art of Latin America in the collection of the House” will be inaugurated.
Silvia Llanes, director of Plastic Arts at Casa de las Américas, explained that the cultural center’s collection of trees of life will be exhibited, as well as pieces of wood and Mexican amates, textiles in the process of conservation and ceramics.
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