Children's Literature Award will accept poetry for the first time

The El Barco de Vapor Puerto Rico Award returns next year, and submissions will be accepted starting September 16

The SM Foundation today announced the return of the El Barco de Vapor Puerto Rico Award, which will celebrate its twelfth edition in 2024.

After three successful calls for entries that welcomed works from authors in Cuba and the Dominican Republic through the El Barco de Vapor Caribe Award, the Puerto Rican children's literature contest is being resumed. In addition to children's and young adult narrative manuscripts, poetry works will be accepted this year.

“For the first time, we are expanding our literary horizon to make room for this genre and for voices that will cultivate the poetic sensitivity of young readers,” stated the director of SM Puerto Rico, Juan Reyes.

Reyes highlighted that the call for the XII El Barco de Vapor Puerto Rico Award will begin on Thursday, September 16, 2023, and will conclude on Monday, January 15, 2024, at 5:00 PM. He also added that manuscripts will only be received virtually. Writers must follow the rules available on the website www.sm-pr.com and submit their manuscripts through the online registration. The prize for the winner on this occasion is 12 thousand dollars.

The El Barco de Vapor Puerto Rico Award began in 2007, when Tina Casanova won the prize with the novel Pepe Gorras o la extraña historia de un perro sin cabeza. This work has transcended format barriers, as it was adapted into a musical by Escena Latina in 2016 and 2023, and into a film for all ages recently released by Quevedo Films.

Likewise, the El Barco de Vapor Puerto Rico Award has recognized the following writers as winners: Mayra Montero with Viaje a la isla de Mona (2008) and El dragón dormido (2014); Isabel Arraiza Arana with La escuelita Do-re-misteriosa (2009); C.J. García with Dale la vuelta (2010) and Buen viaje, Kekái (2018); Samuel Silva Gotay with Las aventuras de Juan Cecilio en la ciudad perdida (2011); Janette Becerra with Antrópolis (2012); José A. Rabelo with Club de calamidades (2013); Ernesto Guerra Frontera with Las palabras dormidas (2015), and Pabsi Livmar with El visitante de las estrellas (2018).

SM Puerto Rico:

SM is a cultural and educational project with two fully integrated areas of action: the work of the SM companies, dedicated to the development of educational content and services, religious publications, and children's and young adult literature; and the social work of the SM Foundation, which allocates the group's profits to improve the quality of education and bring teaching and culture to the most disadvantaged sectors of society. Currently, SM is one of the most prominent actors in the Ibero-American educational sector, with clear leadership in its fields of action.