They celebrate 81 years of Miró with a tribute to the figure of "Chito Martínez"

For five days, Panamanian literature was put up as a party with the celebration of the "Ricardo Miró Literature Week," which concluded on Friday, October 13 with an emotional "Verbatim Gala" with the surrender to eight Nobel writers of the most important literary competitions of the country and that organizes an annual Ministry of Culture (MiCultura), where about $100,000 are distributed as prizes.

The awards to the 2023 version of these competitions that consist of medal, scroll and economic endowment established for each contest were for the literates Cheri Lewis, winner of the prize for youth and child and youth literature Carlos Francisco Changmarín and José Castro, who earned the prize for youth poetry Gustavo Batista Cedeño and Dimitrios Gianareas, prize for narrative Ariel Barria Alvarado.

The award was also awarded to Damus Serrano (essay category), José Durango (theater category), Javier Alvarado (poetry category) and Javier Medina Bernal (tale and novel categories) as the winners of the Ricardo Miró National Literature Competition, which is currently serving 81 years of existence and strengthening itself as Panama's oldest literary contest.

The opportunity was advanced with the Panamanian Academy of Lingua to recognize the trajectory of the writer and academic Aristides Martínez Ortega, kindly known as "Chito Martínez" for his invaluable contribution to the education and strengthening of national letters, and his daughters Anne de las Mercedes Martínez and Emilia de las Mercedes Martínez and his grandson Tomas Adolfo Juárez Martínez, who received this distinction from José Ismael Herrera, Secretary General of MiCultura.

"On behalf of the Ministry of Culture, I wish to express my sincere thanks to all the writers who participated in our literary contest and for accompanying us at this award ceremony. Literature is a fundamental pillar of our culture and heritage, and each of you has made a significant contribution to enriching our literary universe," José Ismael Herrera stated.

"We celebrate the talent and creativity that flow through the pages of Panamanian writers. Each written word, every story told, we find a reflection of our nation's diversity and wealth. Writing is a powerful means to share our voices, our world views and you are the voice that will keep our cultural identity alive," Herrera concluded.

During the public she enjoyed the novel's contexts that this 2023, she's 50 years old after she's been awarded the Ricardo Miró Prize, "Fingered and Sunset Loma" by Dr. Rafael Leonidas Pernett and Morales, in the voices of Enithzabel Castrellón and Marisin Luzcando. Also, she's been pleased to hear the poem "A Protest" by Aristides Martínez, decreed by the director of the Spanish School at the University of Panama, Anais Moran.