Helena Mariño wins the VI International Poetry Prize ‘Ciudad de Estepona’ with the work ‘Mira la palabra cómo brilla’ (See how the word shines)

The author from Madrid will receive a prize of 7,000 euros and her book of poems will be published by the publishing house Pre-Textos. The decision was announced at a gala that included a performance by Lole Montoya and the participation of Laura García Lorca, director of the Federico García Lorca Foundation and niece of our most universal poet.

The City Council of Estepona reports that the Madrid author Helena Mariño has won the VI International Poetry Prize ‘City of Estepona’ for her poetry book ‘Look at the word how it shines’.

The decision was announced at a meeting held by the mayor, José María García Urbano, with members of the jury, which in this edition was composed of Miriam Reyes, Aurora Luque, Ana Fernández ‘La Bien Querida’, Felipe Benítez Reyes, Marta Fernández, Mariano Acosta (representing the bookstore ‘Letras Corsarias’) and Manuel Borrás (editor of Pre-Textos).

The jury considered that ‘Mira la palabra como brilla’ deserves the award for Helena Mariño’s ability to reinvent the house she inhabits “as a refuge of a we that is genealogy and future”. With a writing that does not hide its roots or the pulse of a language that thinks itself, “she builds community and shared space”. She explores the inexhaustibility of the palimpsest that is literature itself, for “every word harbors within/ an inexhaustible space” and reading is infinite.

Helena Mariño (Madrid, 1990) writes and translates. She graduated in Law and Political Science from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and in Comparative Literature from the Complutense. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in Spanish from the University of Iowa, for which she received a full scholarship. Her practice explores the meeting places between different formats and languages, postautonomous writing, the archive and invisibilized narratives.

She is the author of the collections of poems ‘Este frío no es nuestro’ (Entropía Ediciones, 2019), ‘Los bañistas’ (RIL, 2022) and ‘Podría poner el mundo’ (Ril, 2025). She has translated the collection of poems ‘Los hijos de enero’ by Safia Elhillo (Visor Libros, 2022). To support the writing of her fourth book of poems, ‘Mira la palabra cómo brilla’, she received the Grant for Literary Creation from the Ministry of Culture in 2024. She is currently writing her first book of essays, ‘Las visitantes’.

She is also the creator of the performance ‘Esta línea es un espacio recíproco de intercambio’ (This line is a reciprocal space of exchange), which received the Madrid City Council’s Grants for Performing Arts in 2023.

She has taken her stage activations and performances to Matadero de Madrid, La Casa Encendida, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Teatro del Barrio, Museo Reina Sofía, Marpoética festival, Nudo festival and Ex-límite, among others.

He has led writing workshops at Matadero de Madrid, La Casa Encendida and the Reina Sofia Museum. She has also curated performing arts and spoken word workshops for ‘Matadero de Madrid, La Casa Encendida and Book Friday, among others.

She is co-founder and part of the research and creation collective ‘Una fiesta salvaje’, resident at the Centro de Residencias Artísticas de Matadero de Madrid between 2020 and 2023 and at La Casa Encendida between January 2024 and December 2025.

In this edition, the finalist poetry books have been ‘The quietest’, ‘Poems found in the mobile’, ‘Brief news of smoke’, Last witnesses’, ‘Small remnants of love’ and ‘Under the skin, the shadow’.

The mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano, said that this literary contest, organized by the City Council, gets in each edition a significant expectation among poets. Proof of this is that this year more than 2,200 works have been submitted from all Spanish provinces and almost all Latin American countries. In addition, as has happened in previous years, originals in Spanish have also been received from other countries such as Canada, Japan, Jordan, United States, China, Australia, France, England, Portugal and Germany, among others.

The alderman has highlighted the commitment that the City of Estepona is making to support the creators, as well as the cultural relevance that the city has acquired by positioning itself at the forefront of culture and letters with the cultural initiatives that are being carried out.

On the occasion of the award, the Consistory celebrates today several activities to celebrate the ‘Day of Poetry’ in Estepona. At 13.00 hours, the Concert Hall of the Mirador del Carmen Cultural Center has hosted a recital by poets Felipe Benitez Reyes, Aurora Luque and Miriam Reyes, which was attended by students from several schools in the city.

Later, at 18.00 hours, the exhibition space of the Castillo de San Luis will host a poetry recital of the singer and songwriter ‘La Bien Querida’.

At 20.00 hours there will be a gala at the Felipe VI Auditorium where Lole Montoya, who along with Manuel Molina, formed the legendary duo ‘Lole and Manuel’ will offer a flamenco concert. The event will also feature the participation of Laura García Lorca, director of the Federico García Lorca Foundation and niece of our most universal poet.