Granada writer Gerardo Rodríguez Salas receives the III International 'Marpoética' Poetry Award

The mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, presented today at the Royal Hospital of Mercy, the 3rd International 'Marpoética' Poetry Award to the writer from Granada, Gerardo Rodríguez Salas, for his work 'Oxford Circus'. The mayor highlighted that "Marbella once again becomes the epicenter of literary creation thanks to an award that, despite its recent inception, is establishing itself as one of the most prestigious in the Spanish literary scene." In this regard, she emphasized the scale of the contest, organized by the City Council, which received a total of 1,964 poetry collections in this edition, 1,122 of which came from Spanish-speaking countries. "These numbers reflect the trust that many authors place in our city as a meeting point for thought and words," she added.

Muñoz, who was accompanied by the general director of the department, Carmen Díaz, and members of the jury, including the president, Antonio Colinas, congratulated the winner and highlighted the literary strength of his poetry collection, "a work that moves and opens new horizons for reading, courageously reflecting the complexity of identity and representing a precise snapshot of some of the most pressing challenges of our time." "Today we celebrate your talent and welcome you to this family that is 'Marpoética,' which already includes the two previous winners: Felipe Benítez Reyes and Nadia Fabo Andrés," she noted.

"Poetry is like the black box of society, a space to store memory, trauma, love, and light"

Gerardo Rodríguez Salas

Writer and winner of 'Marpoética'

For his part, the awardee thanked the City Council and the jury for the award and fondly recalled his childhood summers in Marbella. In his speech, he defined poetry as "the black box of society, a space to store memory, trauma, love, and light," and advocated for the role of poetic words as a vehicle to "imagine other possible worlds, where diversity and difference are not marginalized, but celebrated." Regarding 'Oxford Circus', he explained that its discourse is structured around the circus as a spatial and identity metaphor, addressing themes such as foreignness and memory. The jury highlighted "the constructive audacity of poems that give voice to some of the fundamental debates of our time, such as gender identity, challenging the reader to face the edges of a complex reality."

Gerardo Rodríguez Salas (Granada, 1976) is a tenured professor of English Literature at the University of Granada, holds a master's degree in Gender Studies from the University of Oxford, and received an Outstanding Doctoral Award. He has been a finalist twice for the Andalucía de la Crítica Award (poetry category) and the 3rd International Poetry Award of Fuente Vaqueros. He is the author of the poetry collections 'Anacronía' (2020) and 'Los hilos de la infamia' (2024), and has also published the book of stories 'Hijas de un sueño' (2017) and the play 'Vulanicos' (2021). His works have been included in nearly twenty anthologies and translated into several languages, and he regularly contributes to national and international journals.