14 Jul 2025 - 22:22

Franz Kafka honored at Celestino Short Story Awards in Holguín

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celestino kafka 01Photo: Andrés Zaldívar

Novelist and writer Franz Kafka was honored at the 26th edition of the Celestino Short Story Awards, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of his unfinished novel The Trial.

The event was atended by Manuel García Verdecia, poet and winner of the Julián del Casal National Poetry Prize; José Rojas Bez, researcher and essayist; José Luis Serrano, poet and winner of the Nicolás Guillén Poetry Prize; and Erian Peña, writer and winner of the 2025 Calendar Prize for narrative.

Manuel García Verdecia highlighted the desperate search for fulfillment and the conflict with authority in Kafka's work. José Rojas Bez emphasized the existential and philosophical dimension, while José Luis Serrano focused on the dreamlike world and the presence of dreams throughout Kafka’s stories.

The meeting addressed the need not to limit Kafka's work to The Metamorphosis. The difficulty of bringing these writings to the world of cinema was discussed, recognizing the complexity and depth of his narrative. In addition, the figure of Kafka was compared with the writer Yukio Mishima, also honored by the event, both of whom were crushed by a world they opposed.