This week, our Editors-at-Large bring us updates on prestigious awards and literary festivals from Palestine and Mexico! From the 2023 winners of the Mahmoud Darwish Award for Creativity to multisensorial poetry from the UANLeer book fair, read on to learn more!
Carol Khoury, Editor-at-Large for Palestine and the Palestinians, reporting from Palestine
The 2023 edition of the Mahmoud Darwish Award for Creativity has been announced, with three winners selected from different categories. In the Palestinian Creative category, Palestinian poet and academic Dr. Salma al-Khadra al-Jayyusi won for her significant contributions to contemporary Arabic poetry, including leading a translation project that brought several notable works to English readers.
Lebanese composer, singer, and musician Marcel Khalife won the Arab Creative category for the remarkable additions he has brought to Arab musical heritage. Khalife is known for his devotion to Palestinian poetry, particularly that of Mahmoud Darwish, and has left an indelible mark on the Arab audience’s consciousness.
Dr. Isabella Camera d’Afflitto, a scholar in Arabic literature, won the Global Creative category. An esteemed Italian academic, she currently serves as an honorary professor at Sapienza University of Rome, specializing in the study and translation of Palestinian literature. She has translated numerous Palestinian literary works into Italian and authored, edited, and contributed to several specialized books and encyclopedias on Palestinian and modern Arabic literature.
Overall, these three winners—who each received a cash prize of twenty thousand dollars as well as an award certificate signed by the Palestinian President—have made significant contributions to Palestinian culture and its representation on a global stage. They have furthered the work of Mahmoud Darwish, who remains a towering figure in Palestinian literature and culture. Their effective cultural presence, contributions to the Palestinian, Arab, and international cultural movement, and their defense of the values of rights, freedom, and justice in the field or through cultural achievement have truly earned them their places among the winners of the prestigious Mahmoud Darwish Award for Creativity.
Alan Mendoza Sosa, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Mexico
Between March 15–19, the international book fair UANLeer took place in the city of Monterrey in northern Mexico. Organized by the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, the event featured keynotes, book presentations, panels, and workshops that celebrated thought, literature, and culture.
Many events at the fair were centered on poetry. They featured panels and readings by some of the most renowned poets writing today in Mexico, some of whom are Asymptote contributors, such as Myriam Moscona and Raúl Zurita. The readings included a mix of established and upcoming writers, providing a unique space where new and cutting-edge poets, such as Bruno Javier, could present their fresh collections alongside readings by more established authors such as Elsa Cross, Coral Bracho, and Maricela Guerrero. Internationally-celebrated poet Rocío Cerón facilitated one of the most fascinating events of the fair, a literary workshop titled “Tiempo especular. Ciencia y escrituras expandidas” (Specular time. Science and Expanded Writings). The workshop explored collaborative literary creation using conceptual tools from the sciences to create multisensorial texts, which, like those written by Cerón, stand at the intersection of visual art, literature, and performance.
Between March 11–19, the Feria Internacional de la Lectura de Yucatán brought together scholars and writers in book launches, symposia, and roundtables. One of the most outstanding events was the launching of Mexican writer Gabriela Jauregui’s first novel Feral. The book came out from the prestigious publishing company Sexto Piso, which has also edited work by several Asymptote contributors, including narrative by Valeria Luiselli and poetry by Forrest Gander translated into Spanish by Pura López Colomé. Jáuregui’s novel explores themes of friendship, memory, and resilience in the face of gender violence and femicide in Mexico.
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