'Manual de hipocondría', by Octavio Escobar, wins the 24th City of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Poetry Prize
The collection of poems Hypochondria Manual by the Colombian Octavio Escobar has won the disputed City of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Poetry Prize, a call by the Culture area of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council that, on a biennial basis, presents within the framework of the Foundational Festivities and that this year has exceeded all expectations by receiving 740 works that aspired to the award and to be published by Ediciones La Palma.
As highlighted in the minutes signed by David Cabrera, Blanca Hernández, Leandro Pinto, Carmen Márquez and Rubén Benítez, all of recognized prestige in the field of poetic creation or literary criticism, Escobar's collection of poems has "unanimously" deserved the award endowed at 5,000 euros for being "A coherent collection of poems, brilliantly structured and with great conceptual depth". Likewise, the jury has pointed out "The point of view of the poetic voice stands out as one of its main virtues" and on it has specified "It affects an attitude, at once ironic and tragic, of the disease, and uses it as a vehicle of poetic language ».
When opening escrow 703, a number that identified the collection of poems selected from among the rest of the participants, the jury and the organization discovered that it was a work from Colombia, specifically Manizales, a creation of a doctor and writer with a broad literary curriculum made up of short stories, novels and works of poetry that, on occasion, have been translated into Italian, German and French. His work has earned him numerous awards and scholarships. According to his CV, the winner of the 24th City of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Award has been an advisor to the Colombian Ministry of Culture in the area of Literature and is one of the writers associated with its National Network of Creative Writing Workshops. of being a professor at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Caldas.
Octavio Escobar has not been able to attend the appointment, although he has written to the organization thanking the award. "You cannot imagine with how much emotion I have received your message," he said, and then added "I've been partying all day" and offer to overcome any distance to be available to the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria at any other time of the year.
