The Casa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary competitions on the continent, has an undeniable impact among Latin American and Caribbean writers. Such is the case that, every year, hundreds of works reach the institution’s headquarters in Havana.
According to essayist Jorge Fornet, director of the Literary Research Center, which organizes the contest, for the 57th edition, more than 400 works have been received. The established categories include story, theater, artistic-literary essay, Brazilian literature, Caribbean literature in French or Creole, and studies of indigenous American cultures.
The number of works involved is a significant element of the Casa Prize, which has become a sort of thermometer reflecting current themes, trends and poetics.
The fact that, year after year, over 56 of them, young writers continue to compete, for a prize of little economic importance, is indicative of the prestige earned by the integrity of juries which focus solely on the aesthetic value of works.
It is moreover undoubtedly an honor to participate in a contest which bears the mark of the many eminent authors who are among its past winners and jury members.
In a meeting with the press prior to the ceremony, Fornet announced a special event, a master lecture, on January 26 in Che Guevara Hall, offered by former President of Uruguay José Mujica, who is traveling to Cuba accompanied by his spouse, Senator Lucía Topolansky.
The inaugural comments, to be presented on the 18th, will be the responsibility of Colombian writer, diplomat and journalist Santiago Gamboa, who is serving on the jury evaluating works in the category of Story, along with Ana Quiroga (Argentina), Ramiro Sanchiz (Uruguay), Eduardo Lalo (Puerto Rico), and Pedro Juan Gutiérrez (Cuba).
THE JURIES
During the inaugural session, as is customary, all of the juries will be introduced, including Theater: André Carreira (Brazil), Mariana Percovich (Uruguay), Luis A. Ramos García (Peru-U.S.), Alejandro Román Bahena (Mexico) and Fátima Patterson (Cuba); Artistic-Literary Essay: Sandra Lorenzano (Argentina/Mexico), Julio Ramos (Puerto Rico) and Mayerín Bello (Cuba); Brazilian literature: Idelber Avelar (Brazil), Viviana Gelado (Argentina) and Consuelo Rodríguez Muñoz (Mexico); Caribbean literature in French or Creole: Aura Marina Boadas (Venezuela), Gary Victor (Haiti) and Josefina Castro Alegret (Cuba); Studies of indigenous American cultures: Natalio Hernández (Mexico), Javier Lajo Lazo (Peru), and Claudia Zapata Silva (Chile).
As a novelty this year, Fornet noted, the 22 members of the jury are distributed without distinction throughout the various linguistic categories, saying, “For example, the judges of Brazilian literature do not all speak Portuguese; this way interaction is promoted, and the invisible barriers of language are broken.”
To focus on reading the works, the juries will travel to the city of Cienfuegos, the Pearl of the South, 256 kilometers from Havana.
The final days of the cultural encounter, back in the capital, will be intense, with the 2015 Casa Prize awards ceremony, lectures and panel discussions by writers on the juries, on issues associated with the most recent literary and theater creation in the region.
Silvia Llanes, director of the Casa de las Americas visual arts department, commented on two attractive expositions to be inaugurated during the Prize activities, which reflect the symbiosis between literature and humorous drawing.
The first show is entitled Los Intrépidos, composed of works in the Casa’s Art from Our America collection, which includes pieces by artists such as Rogelio Naranjo (Mexico), Pedro León Zapata (Venezuela), and Cubans René de la Nuez and Alberto Morales, Ajubel. While the second, Los mundos de Quino, takes as its central theme, according to Llanes, a figure who is essential to Latin American graphic humor, Argentine Joaquín Salvador Lavado, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his famous creation, Mafalda.
Winners of the prestigious 2016 Casa Prizes will be announced January 28.
