The V International Poetry Prize ‘Ciudad de Estepona’ reaches record number of participants with 2,321 works submitted

The winning book of poems will receive 7,000 euros and will be published by Pre-Textos. The decision will be announced on May 8 in an event that will feature a performance by the artist Martirio, accompanied by the musician Raúl Rodríguez.

The International Poetry Prize ‘City of Estepona’, organized by the City Council, has reached a new record number of participants in its fifth edition with a total of 2,321 works submitted, about 300 more than those registered last year. A flood of works that has exceeded expectations and supports the consolidation of a contest that, after only a few years of life, is already among the most relevant in the national scene.

The award continues to generate great interest among both national and international authors. Proof of this is that works have been received from all Spanish provinces, from most of Latin America and Europe.

This literary contest was born in 2021 as one of the most relevant that have been created in recent years on the national scene, both for the economic endowment of the award and for its link to one of the most important publishers in Spanish language. 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, which has in its catalog with authors such as Francisco Brines, Cervantes Prize 2020; Anne Carson, Princess of Asturias Award for Letters 2020; or Louise Glück, Nobel Prize for Literature 2020.

The mayor, José María García Urbano, highlights the commitment that the City Council has been making to promote culture, in all its artistic expressions, and to link the name of the city to cultural projects of relevance. He also underlines the interest in recognizing and encouraging literary creation through the different prizes and contests that have been launched.

The director of this contest, the poet and writer Alejandro Simón Partal, indicates that this poetry prize has been consolidated in a few years as one of the most desired by the authors who write in Spanish anywhere in the world. This international repercussion, he emphasizes, is also motivated by everything that revolves around it, since on the occasion of the award various educational activities are organized and literature is taken to the streets to promote reading and strengthen ties with the culture in the city.

Once the deadline for submission of the poems is over, the jury will now begin the reading of the works. The decision will be announced on May 8 in a ceremony to be held at the Felipe VI Auditorium and will feature the concert ‘La Travesía’, in which the artist Martirio will be accompanied by musician and composer Raúl Rodríguez.

Invitations are free and can be collected from April 21 at the Mirador del Carmen Cultural Center.