58th Casa de las Americas Literary Prize Begins in Havana

The award ceremony will take place on January 26th at the Che Guevara hall, witness of that event during the 58th editions of the contest

The Casa de las Américas Literary Award, one of the oldest of its kind in the continent, begins today its edition of this year, in which about 400 works from different countries are competing.

According to the organizers of the contest, a record number of works have been received in the category of Brazilian fiction literature, with 135 texts that are already in the Cuban capital.

Those categories are Novel, Poetry, Historical-Social Essay, Literary Testimony and the Prize for Studies on the black presence in Contemporary Latin America and the Caribbean.

The activities of the event begin today, with the official presentation of the jury at the Che Guevara hall at Casa de las Americas.

Judges will then travel from Havana to the southern city of Cienfuegos, where most of the readings will be held.

Casa de las Americas will maintain a program of talks, panel discussions and launchings of books and magazines, the coordinator of the contest, Jorge Fornet, stated.

A reading table will be held on January 23rd by poets Leonel Alvarado (Honduras), Eduardo Langagne (Mexico), Selena Millares (Spain), Freddy Ñañez (Venezuela), Sigfredo Ariel and Arístides Vega (both from Cuba).

The conversation with journalists Stella Calloni (Argentina) and Alfredo Salcedo (Colombia), at the Manuel Galich hall, will be held on January 24th.

The launching of the winning books of the 2016 Casa de las Americas Award will be on January 25th.

The awarding ceremony will take place on January 26th at the Che Guevara hall, witness of that event during the 58th editions of the contest.