Guantanamo.- The presentation of the “Alma AHS” award to young creators, as well as to writers and cultural institutions from the Guantánamo Province, marked the closing event of the “La Isla en Peso 2026” Literary Festival, which took place in the downtown José Martí Park in this eastern city, featuring book sales and poetry readings.
During the event, author and local AHS member Jennifer Salmón received this honor, as did writers Yecenia Ramírez, Alquimis Zulueta, José Ramón Sánchez, Noel Mendoza, and Ibrahín Martínez.
The organizers of the La Isla en Peso 2026 Literary Festival also presented this recognition to the staffs of the El Mar y la Montaña publishing house, the Regino E. Boti Public Library, and the Guantánamo Provincial Book Center.
Also at this event, recognition was given to the work of the project “Leo, luego existo” (I read, therefore I exist), coordinated by the young creator William Vargas; the “La Fama Digital Library,” led by author Alquimis Zulueta Blancart; and the “Poetry Precept Course: Palabras con sombra de árbol” (Words with the Shadow of a Tree), conducted by writer Ian Rodríguez in Cienfuegos, for their efforts in promoting literature, poetic creation, and establishing reading clubs and virtual book collections.
Poem readings by Guantánamo-based authors attending the event, as part of the Ring Poético initiative, and choreographic performances by dancer Javier Alejandro Lambert, from the Danza Libre Company, enlivened the closing of the La Isla en Peso 2026 Literary Festival held in Guantánamo from April 22 to 25 under the auspices of the Hermanos Saíz Association.
The event was dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the founding of this cultural organization, which brings together the country’s young artistic vanguard.
