The artist José Luis López-Vera will perform at the IV International Poetry Award ‘Ciudad de Estepona’.

The poet Carmen Rotger, author of the winning work, and the writer and journalist of Diario SUR Alberto Gómez will maintain a dialogue during the presentation of the book of poems.

The event will take place on Thursday, October 24 at the Mirador del Carmen Cultural Center.

Estepona City Council informs that next Thursday, October 24 will be presented the poetry book ‘Que se contradicen’, by the poet Carmen Rotger, winner of the International Poetry Prize ‘Ciudad de Estepona’, which is endowed with 6,000 euros and has been published by the prestigious publishing house Pre-Textos. The event will feature a performance by the artist José Luis López-Vera.

The event will take place at the Mirador del Carmen Cultural Center, at 8:00 p.m., with free admission until full capacity is reached.

The poet Carmen Rotger, author of the winning work, will dialogue with the writer and journalist of the newspaper SUR Alberto Gómez. This conversation will be followed by a recital by José Luis Pérez-Vera (Seville, 1994). With a heritage of flamenco ancestors, his beginnings in the world of music started in the family at the hands of his father, Juan Rafael. Another important influence in his artistic life is his uncle Feliciano, composer of countless very popular sevillanas that have been interpreted by artists such as Marismeños or García Montes, being this fact another component that marks the duality of this artist between the world of flamenco ‘jondo’ and the world of sevillanas.

When he was a child, he began to make contact with and learn from artists who passed through his house at family parties, such as Manuela Vargas, El Pele, María Jiménez, Pansequito, Aurora Vargas and the Pareja-Obregón family, among many others. His work as a cantaor overflows into other disciplines such as piano and dance. His career in the Sevillian tablaos and his interactive learning add to his freshness a greater degree of experience.

He has worked with great dance artists such as Javier Baron and Eva Yerbabuena and as a singer of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, under the direction of artists such as Estevez y Paños, Juan Kruz, Ruben Olmo and Ursula Lopez. Currently, this flamenco artist is composing the songs that will be included in his next album.

To the fourth edition of the International Poetry Prize ‘Ciudad de Estepona’ more than 2,000 originals were presented, being one of the prizes with the highest participation in our country, and one of the most consolidated despite its young trajectory.

A jury chaired by Luis García Montero, and composed of poets of outstanding career as María Ángeles Pérez López, Ben Clark, Juan Gallego or La Bien Querida, among others, awarded the prize to the Balearic poet.

Carmen Rotger was born in Mallorca in 1996. In 2014 she moved to Madrid where she studied Law and International Relations. She has written plays, novels and poetry. She was part of the XVIII Promotion of residents of the Antonio Gala Foundation, and in 2023 she was awarded a scholarship by the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid. With her first collection of poems, ‘Que se contradicen’ (Pre-Textos, 2024), she won the IV International Poetry Prize Ciudad de Estepona, endowed with 6,000 euros.