Granada Poetry Festival is candidate for the Prince of Asturias Awards

Fabiola Villarreal Núñez | Jun 7, 2012

The Granada Poetry Festival –one of the largest festivals of its kind worldwide, now running for eight years– was officially presented as a candidate for the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord in a formal event organised yesterday 6 June in Managua by the Spanish Embassy in the Cultural Centre for Spain in Nicaragua.

The Prince of Asturias Awards have eight categories which recognise excellence in different fields by individuals or groups of individuals, organisations and international institutions. The Awards are presented in the Spanish city of Oviedo in a ceremony presided over by the Prince and Princess of Asturias and the Queen of Spain. The prize consists of a special certificate, a sculpture by the artist Joan Miró, an insignia with the coat of arms of the Prince of Asturias Foundation and a cash award of 50,000 euro.

The Spanish Ambassador to Nicaragua, Mr. León de la Torre Krais, also Honorary President of the Granada International Poetry Festival affirmed: “Just being named a candidate for the Awards is an important feat in itself. The Prince of Asturias Awards are of great international importance. In particular, the Concord Award highlights that the Festival, above and beyond its literary content, attracts authors from around the world and creates a backdrop where values and ideas of democracy, culture and tolerance can coexist, and these are precisely the values promoted by this category of the Awards.”

The process

According to the Ambassador: “After this event where we launch the Granada Festival as candidate for the Award, the Spanish Embassy and the Festival organising committee will continue to present additional documents and videos to the evaluating panel so that it is fully aware of the dimensions and scope of the Festival. The panel will announce their decision on 12 September this year.”

Support and enthusiasm

Mr. De la Torre also commented that “there is currently no other candidate as distinguished as the Poetry Festival which fulfils all the requirements of this prize”. Moreover, the poet and Festival President, Asís Fernández, thanked the backing and enthusiasm given to the Festival’s nomination by the Nicaraguan National Assembly, the High Council for Private Enterprise, the Nicaraguan Writers Centre and poets from across the world, as well as great literary figures of international repute.

The Festival has brought together poets from around the world since 2005. During one week in February, poets of all generations, leanings and cultures participate in this unique celebration of poetry, from the plazas, courtyards and parks of the ancient colonial city of Granada.