The Navarrese poet Santiago Elso Torralba received the IX “Jorge Manrique” International Poetry Prize for his collection of poems “The Shiduri Tavern”, a piece which, according to the jury spokesperson, Luis Alberto de Cuenca, “tells a story in which … “The character searches for the plant of immortality at the end of the world, a Mesopotamian epic that has a lot to do with the perception of life and death in Jorge Manrique’s masterpiece.”
During the awards ceremony, held in Palencia and organized jointly by the Provincial Delegation and the Town Hall of Paredes de Nava, Elso Torralba was visibly moved. “Forgive me if I don’t understand the words, because I feel a little overwhelmed by the welcome I have received in the country of Jorge Manrique,” said the winner in statements collected by Ical. He remembers with particular affection the day before in Paredes de Nava. “I had an absolutely wonderful day in a beautiful city. People came in droves to an event that is normally a minority event, as poetry usually is. “They listened, I spoke to them and the reception was very warm.” For the author, reading his verses focused on death precisely in Jorge Manrique’s hometown “constitutes an indescribable emotion”.
Elso Torralba also offered a brief overview of his literary career, modestly defined as not very prolific in publications. “I am not a poet who has written much, I have published little, only four books,” he explained. His first work was “Description of Paintings for Guillermo,” a volume of ekphrasis dedicated to his son. It was followed by “Nobody Knows How You Got Here” and “Traslumbramientos”, the latter of which received the Ricardo Molina Prize the previous year. “The Tavern of Shiduri” is therefore his fourth book and the one which earned him the prestigious Palencia prize. The poet recalled the moment of the telephone call from the president of the Provincial Council who told him the news. “I was working when I got the call and I really couldn’t believe what was happening to me.”
For his part, the president of the Provincial Deputation of Palencia, Ángeles Armisén, underlined the dual objective of the prize: to disseminate the figure of the “universal poet” Jorge Manrique and to recognize contemporary poetic creation. “It is a satisfaction to be able to present the IX Jorge Manrique Prize today to Santiago Elso Torralba, whom I already thank for being in Palencia during these Christmas periods,” he said.
Armisén highlighted the commitment of the jury and revealed that since the start of the competition, a total of 1,184 works have been received from authors around the world.
The president particularly thanked the collaboration of the Paredes de Nava City Council, “our ‘partner’ from the first moment”, and of the publisher José Ángel Zapatero, responsible for publishing the winning works since the first edition, reports Ical.
The name of Santiago Elso Torralba now joins that of José Ángel Losada Gahete (2024), Sandro Luna (2023), Pedro Flores del Rosario (2022), Reinaldo Jiménez (2021), Miguel Martínez López (2020), Sergio García Zamora (2019), Alejandro Martín Navarro (2018) and Mercedes Carrión Masip (2017). as winners of previous editions of the prize, whose titles have already been published in the poetry collection of Ediciones Cálamo.
The “Jorge Manrique” International Poetry Prize, endowed with 6,000 euros and the edition of the winning work, thus consolidates itself as one of the references of poetry in Spanish, which attracts hundreds of poets each year and contributes to keeping alive the memory of the author of “Coplas por la muerte de su padre” in his native country.
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