Ministry of Culture Issues Annual Literary Awards 2018

During the event César Augusto Zapata, Director of the Ministry’s Literary Office, announced the upcoming Literary Awards for 2019.

Santo Domingo, November 13, 2018 – The Ministry of Culture issued last Tuesday, in Santo Domingo’s National Theater, the Annual Literary Awards 2018, during an event headed by Minister of Culture, Architect Eduardo Selman.

The Annual Poetry Award “Salomé Ureña de Henríquez” was issued to Manuel Castillo de la Cruz, for his book En la voz del silencio (unofficial translation: The Voice of Silence).

The Annual Essay Award “Pedro Henríquez Ureña” was received by Medardo de la Cruz Serrata for his work on La poética del Trujillismo. Épica y romance en el discurso de la “Era” (unofficial translation: “Poetry in the Trujillo Era. Epic and Romance During the Era [of Trujillo].” His brother, Eddy Serrata, received the award.

The Annual Essay Award “Pedro Henríquez Ureña” ex aequo, was awarded to Julián Antonio Valdez Ramírez, for his work on La relación naturaleza-cultura como clave hermenéutica de la antropología estructural de Claude Lévi-Strauss (non-official translation: The Nature-Cultural Relationship as Key to the Structural Anthropology of Claude Lévi-Strauss).

The Annual Children and Youth Literary Award “Aurora Tavárez Belliard” was awarded to Luis R. Santos Lora for his book Síndrome del iPhone (unofficial translation: The iPhone Syndrome).

Each winner received approximately a US$5,000 award, issued by the Ministry of Culture.

In opening remarks, the Director General of Books and Reading Programs, Ruth Herrera, read the proclamation that revealed the names of the winners in the four categories.

At the end of the award event, each of the winners expressed their appreciation for the distinction received.

Also present at the event was César Augusto Zapata, Director of the Literary Office, as well as other Ministry officials and personalities from the country’s cultural sector.

In brief remarks delivered, Minister Selman mentioned the winning entries and congratulated the winners. The awards, said Minister Selman, encourage other Dominican writers to participate in similar events.

In his remarks, Director César Augusto Zapata highlighted the importance that literature has on the identity of a nation.

“When a writer works, surrounded by four walls, what he is doing is writing down the sensibility of the people; there is no possibility of writing outside your language and, therefore, impossible to write outside your culture,” expressed Zapata.

Finally, he expressed that “writers must protect and defend the Annual Literary Awards, because they allow literature to remain alive and in good health in the Dominican Republic.”

The event concluded with a musical recital featuring Omar Ubrí, piano; José Francisco Pérez, violin; and Daniel Rincón, cello, all members of the National System of Children and Youth Orchestras.

1.- During the event, Architect Eduardo Selman, Minister of Culture, presides the head table, accompanied by Ruth Herrera, Director General of the Book and Reading Program and César Augusto Zapata, Director of the Ministry’s Literary Office.

2, 3, 4 and 5 – The winners of the Annual Literary Awards: Medardo de la Cruz Serrata, represented by his brother Eddy Serrata; Julián Antonio Valdez Ramírez, Luis R. Santos Lora and Jit Manuel Castillo de la Cruz. Also, by Ruth Herrera, Eduardo Selman and César Zapata.