They awarded a monetary prize and the publication of their books in a narrative and poetry literary contest

Literature in our region is one of the artistic expressions that has stood out the most throughout history. Thus, names like Stella Díaz Varín or our Nobel Prize winner, Gabriela Mistral, are just a couple of examples of the large number of authors who cultivate letters, whether in poetry, narrative, essay, etc., who have highlighted national and international level. These literary contests correspond to the 2019 call and that by mayoral decree were left without effect due to the social crisis of the moment.

This year the mayor of La Serena, Roberto Jacob, gave instructions to reactivate the interrupted processes of these contests due to the concern of some authors who participated and because it was necessary to value the living cultural heritage of our commune.

Regarding the relevance of this action, the professional from the Department of Culture, Robinson Hernández, pointed out. “It is important to note that we are catching up with the literary world, since as a result of the social outbreak and the pandemic, all the processes of 2019 were frozen. However, following instructions from the mayor, the contest was reactivated and sanctioned, which makes us and the authors happy.

We hope to soon enter the originals to the printing press so that the authors can count on their works in the first quarter of 2023, “he said. Likewise, he added the importance of incorporating the promises of the area. “We have initiatives promoted by the municipality’s Department of Culture so that young talents and children from rural areas can also dare to write and the municipality is committed to their being considered,” she explained.

This is how the processes of the literary contests Municipal Editorial Funds were resumed IX Narrative Literary Contest: “Manuel Concha Municipal Editorial Fund”, V Poetry Literary Contest: “Stella Díaz Varín Municipal Editorial Fund”, V Short Story Literary Contest for Students High School: “Let your Talent Flow”, and the III Communal Contest of Literary Creation for boys and girls from the rural area “Words of the Sun”.

During the second semester of the current year, it has been deliberated, also counting on the corresponding decrees of the winners. The award ceremony will be held in December.

winners and winners

The winners of this version of the Manuel Concha Municipal Editorial Fund are Pía Ahumada, the journalist Gabriel Canihuante and Felipe Cortés, who, in addition to editing and publishing 500 copies of their texts, were awarded the sum of 500 thousand pesos.

In relation to poetry, the Stella Díaz Varín Municipal Editorial Fund, in the award category for career, the winner was Nuria Fresia Larco, who was awarded 1 million pesos, while in the unpublished version the first place went to Andrés Pulgar Marín. and in emerging young people the award went to Juan Bravo Vega.

The group of jurors was made up of Carola Pizarro Araya, Nibaldo Acero and Alejandro Lavquen, for the Manuel Concha Fund and in poetry Paula Ceballos Huerta, Claudia Reyes García and Mauricio Redolés for the Stella Díaz Varín Award.

Likewise, high school students were awarded in the “Let your talent flow” category, awarded by Tamara Katalina Zepeda, from the Jorge Peña Hen Experimental School of Music, Catalina Antonia Núñez, from the same educational establishment, and Giovanni Andrés Palta, from the Liceo Gabriela Mistral.

In the short story section, the winners were Francisca Saavedra Alburquenque, from the Gabriela Mistral High School, Ángel Manuel Araya, from the Jorge Peña Hen Experimental School of Music, and Thaís Djana Tume, also from the Gabriela Mistral High School.

In the III Communal Contest of Literary Creation for boys and girls from the rural area “Palabras del sol” in short stories the winner was Anahí Nicté Cifuentes, from Caleta San Pedro, and in poetry Sofía Isidora Guerrero took first place. The jurors were Paola Uribe Valdés, Omar Aguirre Cifuentes and Katherine Muñoz Arqueros.

In this way, the Municipality of La Serena continues to support the literary creation of the commune with these important prizes, which allow our authors to publish their works and make their work known.