Buenos Aires, Argentina—Winners of the seventh International Poetry Contest, organized each year by UPF-Argentina, were announced on September 20, 2015. “Peace in Our Hearts and Light for the World," "Necessity" and "Peace for the Heart and Light for the World," by Sonia Iris Menéndez (Vicente López, Buenos Aires province), Amalia Isabel Daibes (Pehuajó, Buenos Aires province) and María Marta Grimaux de Dimarco (Paraná, Entre Ríos province), respectively, were awarded first prize, which is shared to promote peacebuilding as a joint project. This year’s motto was “Peace in Our Hearts and Light for the World.”
Participants and Statistics
The contest is held every year before the International Day of Peace and had 391 participants from 34 countries, including Germany; Bolivia; Bulgaria; Cameroon; Ghana; Greece; Guatemala; Italy; Nigeria; Palestine; Panama; Puerto Rico; Switzerland; Togo; Uzbekistan; and Zambia. The nations with the most entries after Argentina were Spain (38 participants), Mexico (21), Cuba (19), Peru (14), Chile (13), Colombia (13), Uruguay (11), Venezuela (8), Brazil (7), El Salvador (4), and Romania (4). There were two entries each from Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States, Israel, the Dominican Republic, and Sweden.
Argentina had 211 participants from 16 provinces, in addition to those from the city of Buenos Aires (32). The province with the most entries was Buenos Aires (99), followed by Córdoba (22), Santa Fe (20), Entre Ríos (8), Mendoza (5), Chubut (4), Misiones (4), Neuquén (4) and Corrientes (3). The remaining ones were San Juan (2), Santa Cruz (2), Tucumán (2), Chaco (1), Jujuy (1), Río Negro (1) and Salta (1).
“Being of Light” Anthology Cover
This edition of the contest also featured, for the first time, a participant from the "peace white" continent, Antarctica—Rubén Darío Vázquez, who lives in Marambio Base, a research base operated by Argentina. His poem “Antarctic Cry” was selected to be included in the messages section. Also selected was “Desilusión,” from Kurdish poet Hussein Habasch, who currently lives in Bonn, Germany after being forced to emigrate from his homeland in Syria. The greatest number of participants were from the Americas (333), where the majority of countries are Spanish-speaking (language of the poem), followed by Europe (49), Africa (5) and Asia (4).
In this seventh edition of the contest, plastic artists were invited to submit a drawing, painting or design to be considered for the cover of the publication that will comprise all the winning and selected poems. “Being of Light,” by Carina Cecilia Ianni (Centenario, Neuquén province) was the winning piece of artwork. It is a mixed media painting on canvas from the series, “Beings of Light.”
Of the 19 pieces of artwork received, the following were selected as illustrations for the Anthology:“Paz en el corazón y luz para el mundo,” by Eugenia Viviana Suchowolski Escape (Las Heras, Mendoza province); “Vetas de paz,” by María Fernanda Macimiani (Pablo Podestá, Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires province); “Paz en el corazón…,” by Amanda Marta Urcola (Lincoln, Buenos Aires province); and “Ave de paz,” by Franco Momo (Olivos, Vicente López, Buenos Aires province).
Jury and Patrons
This year, the jury consisted of the literary critic Bertha Bilbao Richter, member of the Hispanic Literary and Cultural Institute (ILCH) and the Argentine Society of Writers (SADE); writer and plastic artist Mabel Fontau, member of the ILCH and People of Letters; poet Donato Perrone, coordinator of the Lyrical Space Coffee Tortoni and representative of the Livres Poets Group from Santa Catarina, Brazil; writer and plastic artist Martha Edith Candioti, director of the Eclectic Group and president of the Argentinean Poetic Athenaeum Alfonsina Storni; and Miguel Werner, secretary general of UPF-Argentina.
The patrons were the writer and poet Juana Alcira Arancibia, founder and president of the ILCH and director-editor of the prestigious international literary magazine “Alba de América”; Brazilian poet Marina Fagundes Coello, a member of various, notable literary groups in the Americas; writer and poet Nélida Pessagno, vice president of the SADE and senior advisor of the El Libro Foundation; and writer Liria Guedes, a member of the SADE and the American Poetry Association.
Universal Words and Values
The award ceremony will be held on September 21 at Club Español in Buenos Aires. UPF-Argentina will also celebrate the International Day of Peace, whose theme for this year is “Dignity for All-Partnerships for Peace.” Every year, the International Day of Peace celebration includes an interfaith program. This year, there will be a singing of songs from different spiritual traditions and the significance of interfaith cooperation for peace will be highlighted.
In 2009, the first year UPF-Argentina organized the contest, it received 74 entries from 61 writers from 10 countries and eight provinces in Argentina. In commemoration of the UN International Year of Reconciliation 2009 (ONU A/RES/61/17), the theme for that year’s contest was “Hymn to Reconciliation.” Today, the contest continues to promote a culture of peace through universal words and values.
7th International Poetry Contest – UPF-Argentina
“Peace in Our Hearts and Lights for the World”
Supporting the International Day of Peace 2015
“Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.” Preamble of UNESCO’s Constitution(1945)
FIRST PRIZE (Shared)
PAZ EN EL CORAZÓN Y LUZ PARA EL MUNDO
Sonia Iris Menéndez
Vicente López, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
NECESIDAD
Amalia Isabel Daibes
Pehuajó, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
PAZ PARA EL CORAZÓN Y LUZ PARA EL MUNDO
María Marta Grimaux de Dimarco
Paraná, Entre Ríos Province, Argentina
HONORABLE MENTIONS
DESPUÉS
Zunilda Angelero Regusci
Montevideo, Uruguay
PEQUEÑOS FUEGUITOS
Irma Droz
Santa María de Punilla, Córdoba Province, Argentina
LA PAZ ES UN PAÑUELO…
Carlos Alberto Boaglio
Vicuña Mackenna, Córdoba Province, Argentina
VOY POR EL MUNDO MIRANDO HACIA LA LUZ
Amparo Bonet Alcón
Valencia, Spain
COMO UN DESLUMBRAMIENTO…
Elena Nilda Pahl
Río Cuarto, Córdoba Province, Argentina
SPECIAL MENTIONS
LA PAZ DEL CORAZÓN
Norberto Rubén Calul
Wilde, Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
LA PAZ
Héctor Jorge Hermida
Remedios de Escalada, Lanús, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
LA ESENCIA DE MI VOZ
Delicia Muñoz Fernández
Chiclayo, Peru
PAZ Y LUZ
Pablo Miquet
Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe Province, Argentina
MENTIONS
ODA A LA ESENCIA DE LA PAZ
Ana María Elizondo Gasperín
Mexico City, Mexico
LA VERDADERA LUZ
Cecilia María Labanca
Martín Coronado, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
A PARTIR DE HOY
Raúl Oscar Ifran
Punta Alta, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
CANTO A LA PAZ
Susana Angélica Orden
Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina
SE PUEDE
Ime Biassoni
Ceres, Santa Fe Province, Argentina
SELECTED MESSAGES
EL MENSAJERO
Claudio Lucas Stiglich
Adrogué, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
PAPA FRANCISCO
Susana Repetto
Dolores, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
UNIVERSAL MALALA
María Cejas
San Isidro, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
DESILUSIÓN
Hussein Habasch (Kurdo, Siria)
Bonn, Germany
CLAMOR ANTÁRTICO
Rubén Darío Vázquez
Marambio Bas, Tierra del Fuego Province, Antartica
PRAYER Section
RUEGO POR LA PAZ DE LA TIERRA
Irene Mercedes Aguirre
Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
DEBER Y META
Roberto José Marcelo Farías
Villa Nueva, Córdoba Province, Argentina
PLEGARIA DE LA PAZ
María Beatriz Bolsi de Pino
Santa Fe City, Santa Fe Province, Argentina
COMO UNA ORACIÓN
Ana Luisa Galeano
Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina
PLEGARIAS…
Gladys Beatriz Navarro de Sartirana
Victoria, Entre Ríos Province, Argentina
ORACIÓN POR LA PAZ
Griselda Noemí Goñi
Funes, Santa Fe Province, Argentina
MISCELLANEOUS Section
UNO SOMOS
Málenny Cruz Sánchez
Colonia San Ángel, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City, Mexico
ALEGATO
Elvira Sevillano Marco
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
HACER LA PAZ
Graciela Pucheta
Ezeiza, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
CLAMANDO POR EL HOY
Ángela Liliana Siracusano
Banfield, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
LA PAZ ES…
Marta Inés Toro
Bell Ville, Córdoba Province, Argentina
ILLUSTRATIONS
COVER
SER DE LUZ
Carina Cecilia Ianni
Centenario –Neuquén Province, Argentina
INSIDE
PAZ EN EL CORAZÓN Y LUZ PARA EL MUNDO
Eugenia Viviana Suchowolski Escape
Las Heras, Mendoza Province, Argentina
VETAS DE PAZ
María Fernanda Macimiani
Pablo Podestá, Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
PAZ EN EL CORAZÓN…
Amanda Marta Urcola
Lincoln, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
AVE DE PAZ
Franco Momo
Olivos, Vicente López, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
Translation: Yamila Gómez