María Esther Núñez Herrera, from Mexico City, won first place in the 13th edition of the 2015-2016 “Ignacio Manuel Altamirano” International Narrative Award for her novel “El exilio del cuerpo” (“The Body’s Exile”). The ceremony was organized by the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) and the jury also decided to award two honorable mentions to Pablo André Rodríguez Cabello for his novel “El Varado” (“The Stranded”) and to Gerardo Sifuentes Marín, for his story collection “Paracosmos.”
The contest received 126 works of writers from 12 countries: Israel, the United States, Spain, Nicaragua, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Austria, Germany, Argentina, France and Mexico. The jury was made up of narrator, essayist and translator Mauricio Montiel Figueiras; journalist, writer, screenwriter and comic editor Rodolfo Santullo; journalist, writer and editor Doménico Chiappe; philologist, essayist and translator Diego Simini; and poet, narrator and editor Pedro Enríquez.
On behalf of UAEM Rector Jorge Olvera García, UAEM secretary of Cultural Promotion Ivett Tinoco García, accompanied by award coordinator Alicia Gutiérrez Romo, said that the winner will be awarded 60,000 pesos ($3,250), a diploma and the publication of their work.