Cuban Author Wins International Fantastic Poetry Contest

Cultural sources have reportedly announced that the Cuban writer Maria Cristina Martinez won the 11th International Fantastic Poetry Contest 2019, hosted by the Spanish digital magazine miNatura, in which 85 works from various countries participated.

Martinez, a resident of this western city, succeeded with the poem Entre Soles ('Between Suns'), which, according to the author, pays tribute to Polish science fiction icon Stanislaw Lem and his novel Solaris.

The jury's report acknowledges that the winning text is overwhelming and catches the reader, 'making the difficult easy, a trip to the complicated world of Lem', reported the local daily Giron.

Martinez was awarded in 2017 the national prize for fantastic literature in the Oscar Hurtado contest, also in poetry, and has also explored children's literature with the book El libro de los muchos trajes ('The Book of the Many Suits'), by Matanzas Editions.

In the event this year, eight other poems were also awarded, including La voz del vacio ('The Voice of the Void') and Melancolia de Persefone ('Melancholy of Persephone'), by the Cubans Carlos Duarte and Milho Montenegro, in that order, as well as bards from Argentina, Mexico, Germany and the headquarters.

The aforementioned online magazine is a bimonthly non-profit publication, specializing in the fantasy genre, science fiction and terror.