The novel Daughter of Nobody, by the Argentinian Javier Núñez; and the collection of poems Exceptional beauty of the summer, by the Cuban Luis Lorente, won the 2022 Casa de las Américas Literary Prize today.
While in the essay section on the historical-social theme, the award corresponded to the text Currency and social discomfort in Cuba (1790-1902), by the Spanish José Antonio Piqueras.
Nobody’s daughter stood out for showing a good narrative pulse, and great handling of dialogues when telling, in a cinematographic tone, the dystopian story of two women who resist a harsh and cruel reality.
The poetry jury highlighted the language, atmosphere and rhythm of Exceptional…, and recognized the way in which it addresses moments in the lives of characters in Cuban history.
In that category they were recognized with mentions Embroidering Quilkas, by the Peruvian Carolina O. Fernández, and For some time when it gets dark, by the Bolivian Benjamín Chávez.
For its part, Piqueras’s essay was recognized for presenting a rigorous analysis of the role of currency and monetary relations in the historical formation of Cuba from the end of the 18th century to the end of the United States military occupation.
The juries of the three categories chose the winning texts from among 140 works selected among all those admitted since the launch in April of last year of the call for the award.
The choice of the winning collection of poems fell on the Argentine Jorge Boccanera, the Guatemalan Rosa Chávez, and the Cuban-Argentine Basilia Papastamatíu. The Novel jury was made up of the Chilean Claudia Apablaza, the Puerto Rican Mayra Montero, the Ecuadorian Santiago Vizcaíno (Ecuador) and the Cuban Dazra Novak (Cuba).
While in the essay section the decision of the winner was the responsibility of the Peruvian Carlos Aguirre, the Argentine Mario Santucho (Argentina) and the Cuban Yoel Cordoví.
