Casa de las Américas celebrates Mario Benedetti’s 100th aniversary

Havana, Feb 5.- On the 100th birthday of Uruguayan writer Mario Bendetti, Casa de las Americas (House of the Americas) of this capital is planning today several activities to honor his life and work.

 

These activities, within the 29th edition of the International Book Fair to be celebrated from February 6-16, include panels, reading of poems, talks with authors and book launches.

A panel on his honor is scheduled for February 7, entitled ‘The Mario that was Benedetti’. It will be attended by representatives of the fundation that bears his name and Cuban writers such as Eduardo Heras, Pedro Simon, Jorge Fornet, and Caridad Tamayo Fernandez.

A poet, storyteller, essayist and playwright, Benedetti’s texts have been translated into some twenty languages, and because of them he was awarded the most prestigious literary prizes in the Spanish-speaking world.

Benedetti, one of the most read Latin American authors, was closely associated with Casa de las Américas because he worked in this institution in 1967 and 1969, a time when he founded his Center for Literary Research, and came back in 1975.