Cuba Announces 2020 Casa de las Americas Awards

Casa de las Americas granted on Friday the homonymous prize, one of the oldest one in the continent, to writers from Cuba, Brazil and Mexico during the prize-giving ceremony that took place at the Che Guevara Hall.

The literary award, which began its 7th decade, went to Puerto Rican Aurea Maria Sotomayor for the essay ‘Apalabrarse en la desposesion. Literatura, arte y multitud en el Caribe insular’ that, according to the jury, is an urgent and innovative comparative analysis of the French, English and Spanish-speaking Caribbean literature and art.

‘La literatura es cosa seria,’ by Mexican Jose Manuel Rios Guerra, won the award in the short story category. The works ‘Mala Tierra,’ by Godetti Damian Emilio (Argentina) and ‘Welcome, señor Kerry,’ by Emerio Medina (Cuba) received mentions.

The work ‘Bayamesa. Requiem por Maria Luisa Milanes,’ by Cuban playwright Abel Gonzalez, won in the theater category. The work stood out for rescuing the legacy of one of little-known 19th-century poetesses, Maria Luisa Milanes.

The award of Studies on American indigenous cultures went to ‘Nuestra Palabra maya. Poetica de la resistencia,’ by author Emil Keme, who analyzed the work of ten contemporary Mayan writers.

The jury on Brazilian Literature awarded the novel ‘Paleto e eu: memorias de meu pai indigena,’ by Aparecida Vilaça. On the other hand ‘Je ne suis pas un homme qui pleure,’ by Fabienne Kanor (Martinique) received a recognition in Caribbean literature in French or Creole language.

Interviewed by Prensa Latina, Casa de las Americas President Abel Prieto stressed the value of the Award that, on its 61st edition, led the meeting between jurors with Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel, who praised the work carried out by the cultural institution and exchanged with the intellectuals about the current socio-political context of the Latin American region and the role of culture.

In an honorary way, Casa de las Americas delivered the Jose Lezama Poetry Prize to ‘Ojos de la palabra,’ by Argentine Jorge Boccanera; the Jose Maria Arguedas Narrative Prize for ‘Sumar,’ by Chilean writer Diamela Eltit; and the Ezequiel Martinez award in essay for ‘Una literatura en los tropicos,’ by Brazilian Silviano Santiago.