Holguin Writer Wins Nicolás Guillén Poetry Prize
- Written by Rosana Rivero Ricardo
- Published in Culture
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Photo: By the authorHolguin writer José Luis Serrano won the Nicolás Guillén Poetry Prize 2018 for his sonnets book Los perros de Amundsen (Amundsen Dogs). The award will be officially delivered on February 9, as part of the Havana Book Fair. Through a classic poetic structure that, according to the author, is little rewarded in contests, Serrano creates a metaphor about the existence and the complex postmodern times he has had to live.
"Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer who led the expedition to Antarctica that first reached the South Pole. While his English opponent used motorized sleds, he conquered the South Pole with 60 dogs, of which he used half as food for the rest ones. The strategy helped him to come back alive and win the race. What this has to do with the times that are running I leave it to the readers ", said Serrano.
The volume is part of the compendium Trilogía acéfala (Achaphalic Trilogy). It also includes the texts Más allá de Nietzche (Beyond Nietzche) and Marx y Geometría de Lobachevsky (Marx and Geometry by Lobachevsky), the latter awarded with the 2015 Adelaida del Mármol Award.
"It is fortunate to win this award. I won it after nine years of work in which the books were perfected and new ones emerged. My bet is to use the sonnet in the 21st century, a structure that is often devalued, as the ideal means to express the ruptures and mixtures of situations we live in, " Serrano explained.
In addition to the sonnet, José Luis Serrano is an outstanding promoter of the Cuban décima. He has won, among others, the Cucalambé Ibero-American Prize (1995 and 2001), the New Voices of Holguin Poetry (1995) Award and the Distinction for National Culture. He works as editor in th Ediciones Holguín publishing house.
