Alexis Díaz-Pimienta Wins Archiletras de la Lengua Prize 2023

June 28, 2023

Writer, improviser, researcher and educator Alexis Díaz-Pimienta (1966) received in Spain the Archiletras de la Lengua Prize 2023 in the "Special Jury Prize" category, in which writer Gioconda Belli and linguist Ignacio Bosque were finalists.

The jury, made up of 13 professionals with recognized trajectories in the field of culture and presided over by Arsenio Escolar, founder of the Archiletras project, recognized the work of Díaz-Pimienta, actor Carmelo Gómez, professor Cristian Olivé and full professors Lola Pons and Estrella Montolío, among others.

With the presence of various personalities from Spanish culture, politics, economy, society and diplomacy, the awards ceremony took place this Tuesday, June 27 at Casa América in Madrid.

"It was a wonderful evening. Thanks to the Jury for their words. And for the decision. Thanks to the audience for their welcome. Thanks to Jorge Drexler and Lucas Figueroa for accompanying me. Thanks to Archiletras for everything, for the magazines, for the prize itself, for the organization. Thanks to journalist Mar Abad for presenting my candidacy," Díaz-Pimienta wrote on his social networks.

The second edition of the Archiletras de la Lengua Prizes was held under the Honorary Presidency of His Majesty King Felipe VI. The competition recognizes the merits of individuals, groups, entities and institutions that have stood out in the promotion, support, research and development of the Spanish language and its variations.

Out of a total of 149 candidacies presented, 36 were finalists in 12 categories such as Prize for Research, Teaching, Linguistic Initiative in the business sphere and the Special Jury Prize.

The Prizes are annual in nature and are called for by Prensa y Servicios de la Lengua, publisher of the quarterly printed magazine Archiletras, the biannual Archiletras Científica and the project website.

Alexis Díaz-Pimienta is a prolific narrator, poet and essayist. His books cover an enormous spectrum ranging from children's literature to adult literature; from realism to fantasy, eroticism and socio-political themes.

Part of his work has been translated into English, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Bulgarian, Finnish, Japanese and Farsi. He is founder and director of the Oralitura Project, a multipurpose platform through which he brings the tradition of improvisation to the Internet era and new technologies.

His first novel written, awarded and published in Spain was Prisionero del agua, which was selected in 1998 by the cultural supplement of the newspaper ABC as one of the 10 best first novels published in that country.

Prisionero del agua has editions in Cuba, Colombia and Italy and, according to what the author recently published, "a French edition and another English edition are on the way".