Mexican professor Emilio Gersain Manzo Lozano with an accreditation diploma from the International Department, together with the organizers and the jury of the competition. Author: Belize White

Reinier Del Pino Cejas (“Memories of Literary Frankenstein”) from Artemis and Emilio Gersain Manso Lozano from Mexico (“Cuentos colimotes de Gregorio Torres Quintero”) received the first prize and the prize of the international department, respectively, of the VI Competition. Caridad Pineda in memory of the popularization of reading, whose gala concert was held at the Elvira Cape Library in Santiago de Cuba.

A jury composed of Fernando Rodríguez Sosa (President), Nelson Simon, Manuel Gómez Morales, Ricardo Hodelin Tablada and Katiuska Ramos evaluated 67 stories from twelve Cuban provinces, the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, as well as from Peru and Mexico.

Miguel Eduardo Hernandez Bisset’s “From Anne Frank’s Diary to the Pages of the Heart” (Santiago de Cuba) won second place in the competition, and Pedro Arturo Menendez Garcia’s “How to be a Real Man” (Havana) took third place. In addition, he awarded the Prize for the novel “Thanks to the Cow” by Ariadne Pérez Betancourt and a special mention for “It Happened to Me Like Don Quixote” by Emma Marai Martinez Nunez, both from Havana.

They received mentions of “With (some) teacher” by Miguel Terry Valdespino (Artemis), “Pippa and I” by Euridica Legra Mora and “The Book and its Keeper” by Jorge Antonio García Orce, both from Santiago de Cuba, who were also accredited by various awards from institutions that accompany the call each year.

The central slogan of the Caridad Pineda In Memoriam Reading Encouragement Competition is “Reading Marked by My Life” and it attempts to save the reader’s fame and passion for reading. This year it was sponsored by the Cuban Association of Librarians (Ascubi) and the Elvira Cape Library, with the support of Claustrofobias Promociones Literarias, Radio Siboney and the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac).

Caridad Pineda Anglada (1933–2012) was a prominent teacher from Santiago who taught generations of students, was involved in a literacy campaign, and was a staunch advocate for reading in the classroom and in the community.

Source: Juventud Rebelde