(San Juan, Puerto Rico) – The SM Foundation in Puerto Rico announced today that Puerto Rican writer Vanessa Seijo has been awarded the prestigious El Barco de Vapor Puerto Rico Prize for her work "Dos detectives y un gato" (Two Detectives and a Cat). As a result of this award, Seijo will receive $12,000, the publication of her work, and an awards gala.
“We are honoring a fun and excellently written work that appeals to our youth and celebrates Puerto Rican arts and heritage. Seijo has demonstrated her commitment to education and storytelling with works such as the novel 'Nicolás, la abuela Margot y el hechicero,' published by SM Puerto Rico in 2010. Furthermore, through her contributions to various electronic magazines and media outlets, she has established her reputation as a versatile and talented author,” stated Juan Reyes, General Director of SM in Puerto Rico.
Born in 1970, Vanessa Seijo holds a bachelor's degree in English and American Literature and has nearly three decades of experience as a public school teacher. SM published another of Seijo's writings in the anthology 'Cápsulas del Tiempo' (Time Capsules, 2018), a collection of stories about Hurricane Maria, which featured her short story 'Cosas de Diario.'
"Dos detectives y un gato" tells the humorous story of two sixth-grade students, Mónica and Yadriel, and their unexpected feline ally, Morro. Set in Old San Juan, the plot follows the search for those responsible for a major art theft, offering a fresh narrative filled with humor within the detective genre.
This year, the El Barco de Vapor Puerto Rico Award received 64 manuscripts—a figure not reached since 2012—among which Seijo's work stood out from the beginning. "Dos detectives y un gato" was unanimously selected by manuscript readers and jury members for its revitalization of the values of friendship and community, its playful and fresh plot, and its celebration of Puerto Rican culture.
“As on previous occasions, this year we had an excellent jury composed of writers Pabsi Livmar, Ana María Fuster, Elsa Tió, and José Rabelo, along with editor Ariana Rosado Fernández. The El Barco de Vapor Puerto Rico Award, which returned in 2023 after four years as the El Barco de Vapor Caribe Award, has consecrated several Puerto Rican authors over the years and will continue to do so in the future,” Reyes concluded.
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 to 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.
