La Bien Querida and the poet Luis García Montero will participate in the gala of the IV International Poetry Prize ‘Ciudad de Estepona’.

The program of events scheduled for May 2 (May 5 was declared Poetry Day in Estepona) includes, among other activities, poetry readings by Ben Clark, Alberto Conejero and María Ángeles Pérez López.

The City Council of Estepona informs that next May 2 will be held a gala at the Felipe VI Auditorium to announce the decision of the IV International Poetry Prize ‘Ciudad de Estepona’, a contest organized by the City Council of Estepona and the direction of the poet and novelist Alejandro Simon Partal. The event, which will begin at 20.00 hours, will feature a recital by the poet and director of the Cervantes Institute Luis García Montero, and a concert by La Bien Querida, one of the most recognized artists of current pop in Spanish. Invitations to attend the gala can be collected from Wednesday, April 17, at the Centro Cultural Padre Manuel, from 11.00 to 14.00 hours, and from 17.00 to 20.00 hours.

Apart from this event in the Auditorium Felipe VI, Poetry Day will feature workshops, poetry readings and book presentations. At 11 a.m., at the Huber Gallery (C/ San Antonio, 27), Juan Gallego Benot, Hiperión poetry prize winner and researcher at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, will offer the workshop ‘How to walk without landscape’, in which, based on spaces that we may consider “not very picturesque”, attendees will play to dismantle our prejudices about the urban landscape and try other ways of understanding the place where we live or visit. At 1 p.m., at the Mirador del Carmen Cultural Center, a poetic vermouth will be held with readings by Ben Clark, poet who has just won the National Critics’ Prize; Alberto Conejero, poet and playwright who in 2019 won the National Prize for Dramatic Literature; and María Ángeles Pérez López, poet, corresponding member of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language and professor at the University of Salamanca, who in 2022 won the National Critics’ Prize.

In the afternoon, at 5 p.m., at the Casa de las Tejerinas, the poet Víctor Bayona Marchal will present his second collection of poems, ‘El año del renacuajo’ (Isla Elefante publishing house), a book in which the author reflects on the time that inhabits us, that measures us and defines us. Ben Clark, editor of the book, will present the event.

Admission to these events will be free until full capacity is reached.

This fourth edition has reached a record number of participants with more than 2,000 works submitted, half a thousand more than those registered last year. A flood of works that has exceeded expectations and supports the consolidation of a contest that with a few years of life is already among the most important of the national scene. The City Council has increased the amount for this fourth edition and the winning work will receive a prize of 7,000 euros. In addition, the selected work will be published by the prestigious publishing house Pre-Textos.

PROGRAM

11.00 a.m., Huber Gallery, C/ San Antonio, 27: Workshop ‘How to walk without landscape’ given by Juan Gallego Benot.

13:00 hours, Mirador del Carmen Cultural Center: Poetic Vermouth with Ben Clark, Alberto Conejero and María Ángeles Pérez López.

17:00 hours, Casa de las Tejerinas (Plaza de las Flores): Presentation of the book ‘El año del renacuajo’ (Editorial Isla Elefante), by Victor Bayona Marchal.

20:00 hours, Felipe VI Auditorium: Reading of the Jury’s decision of the IV International Poetry Prize ‘Ciudad de Estepona’. Recital by Luis García Montero. Concert by La Bien Querida. The winning book of poems will receive 7,000 euros and will be published by Pre-Textos.