Ministry of Culture Announces Winners of Annual Literature Awards 2018

Santo Domingo, June 26, 2018 – The Ministry of Culture, through the Directorate of Books and Reading, revealed the names of the winners of the Annual Literature Awards during a ceremony held at the Pedro Henríquez Ureña National Library.

Through this literary contest, the Ministry of Culture promotes literature and its importance in the Dominican Republic.

For the 2018 awards, Fray Jit Manuel de la Cruz received the Salomé Ureña de Henríquez National Poetry Award for his book “En la voz del silencio” (In the Voice of Silence, non-official translation).  The members of the jury – Rannel Báez, Juan Carlos Mieses and Jesús Losada – made the announcement.

At the same time, the Children and Youth Literature Award was issued to Luis R. Santos, for his book “Síndrome del iPhone.”  In this category, the jury was composed by Lucía Amelia Cabral, Elizabeth Balaguer and Rafael Peralta Romero.

Altagracia Pou, Fernando Cabrera and Olivier Batista Lemaire, the jurors of the Essay Award Pedro Henríquez Ureña, unanimously chose the book “La poética del trujillismo” (Poetry in the Trujillo Era, non-official translation), written by Medar Serreta.

José Ramón López received the National Short Story Award, while the Manuel de Jesús Galván Novel Award was declared deserted because none of the entries met the necessary criteria demanded by the contest guidelines.

The Cristóbal de Llerena Theater Award was also declared void.

The members of the Short Story Award were Emilia Pereyra, Rodolfo Báez and René Rodríguez Soriano, while the members of the Novel Award jury   were Ángel Luis Arambilet, Rafael Castillo Alba and Manuel Mora Serrano.

The event was headed by the Director of Books and Reading, Ms. Ruth Herrera; César Zapata, Director of Literary Management; León Félix Batista, Director of the Poetry Festival; José Enríquez García, National Publishing Director and Armando Almánzar Botello, Under Director of the National Publishing Office.

The National Literature Award was created through Decree No. 111-05, dated March 23, 2005. The Ministry of Culture invites all Dominican writers to participate in the annual literary contest.

The activity was headed by Ms. Ruth Herrera, Director of Books and Reading; César Zapata, Director of Literary Management; León Félix Batista, Director of the Poetry Festival; José Enríquez García, National Publishing Director and Armando Almánzar Botello, Under Director of the National Publishing Office.

A view of the audience that attended the Awards Ceremony.