Colombian poet Piedad Bonnett received the 11th American Poetry Award on Tuesday from the Casa de las Americas cultural association and Spanish publisher Visor Libros.
Bonnett was awarded the prestigious prize for her work “Explicaciones no Pedidas” (Unrequested Explications), which the jury said establishes a dialogue between imagination and reality.
The award is one of Latin America’s oldest and most distinguished literary prizes, given out for poetry, essays, and narratives, among other forms of literary expression.
“One of the most important themes of all of my poetry, is daily life. I am very interested in the experience of being,” Bonnett explained after receiving the award.
She went on to say that writing about violence and conflict in Colombia is also a part of her work, but is more difficult to explain to a foreign audience. Instead, the Colombian poet prefers to write about family dynamics, and the relationships that exist between parents and children.
Bonnett described her poetry as being “relatively transparent, it isn’t at all a secretive kind of poetry. I am interested by direct communication”
The Antioquia-born author’s work was chosen from a total of 391 entries coming from 22 different countries.
The prize consisted of roughly $8,000, as advance payment on copyright and publication of her book, Colombia’s Ministry of Culture reported.
At the official event, which occurred in Madrid, Bonnett read excerpts from her poems and presented her most recent work “El Prestigio de la Belleza” (The Prestige of Beauty).