Pureza Canelo wins the XV ‘City of Torrevieja’ International Poetry Prize

The jury of the XV International Poetry Prize "City of Torrevieja" unanimously decided to award first prize to Dona Pureza Canelo for her poetry collection ‘A todo lo no amado’ or ‘To all unloved’. The book will be published in Spanish by Plaza y Janes in collaboration with the Municipality of Torrevieja, and will be released on February 18, 2011. Canelo also went home with €18,000 as her cash prize..

Pureza Canelo (Moral, Cáceres, 1946) burst onto the poetry scene winning the Adonais Prize in 1970. During the years 1975-1983 she ran the Interfaculty Department of Cultural Activities of the Autonomous University of Madrid, and in 1977 she founded the Moraleja Cultural Hall and Public Library. She has won many poetry prizes over the last twenty years and her work has been widely translated into English and German.

This year 321 manuscripts were received for consideration. Highlighting the International nature of the competition, 17 came from the United States 15 Argentina, 13 Colombia and Venezuela, with other entries from Mexico, Peru, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Costa Rica and one from Bolivia, France, Germany, UK and Switzerland. The remainder were received from different parts of Spain. It is the seventh consecutive year that Plaza y Janes will edit the ‘City of Torrevieja’, International Poetry Prize after the success of previous editions.