Gutenberg Award 2017

The event was attended by the Minister of Education & Culture, national authorities and personalities of the literary world, as well as the contestants themselves.

Ambassador Karl-Otto König opened the event, underlining the importance of reading in the modern world. The jury - composed of Soledad Platero, journalist from daily La Diaria journalist and literary critic for El País Cultural, Jaime Clara, a well-known conductor of culture programmes, and Edmundo Canalda, director of the publishers Fin de Siglo - revealed the winner of the Award, who turned out to be Fabián Muñiz, for his work "The Epic of Little Deaths". Ambassador König presented the winner with the statuette representing the Gutenberg Award, and Education & Culture Minister María Julia Muñoz closed the formal part of the ceremony praising the European Union's support for culture in Uruguay.

The Gutenberg Award is an initiative of the European Union whose aim is to promote literary creativity, reward young authors and foster a taste for reading in Uruguay. The 2017 edition was launched by the EU Delegation in April this year.

Uruguayan writers under the age of 35 compete for the Award. The works presented can be novels or collections of short stories that have not participated in other literary contests.

In addition to the statuette representing the Gutenberg Award (designed by artist Octavio Podestá), the prize consists of the edition and publication of the winning work and a return air ticket to Brussels, home of the EU institutions.