Laura Mindán Sanz and Julia Castellano Llordella have won the 18th Ars Creatio international short-story competition, «Una imagen en mil palabras». The results were announced on Saturday 17 October at Torrevieja’s Palacio de la Música, during the launch of the association’s autumn digital magazine. This year’s competition attracted 407 stories inspired by two photographs by local artist Jaime Vera López.
Mindán Sanz, who lives in Castelldefels, won the category for the first photograph with «Elegía del resucitado». Castellano Llordella, from Esparraguera, took the award for the second image with «Al fiado». Both writers entered from Barcelona province, although the competition drew submissions from Spain and abroad.
407 entries inspired by two photographs
The first photograph prompted 190 stories, while the second attracted 217. Of the total entries, 254 came from locations across Spain and 153 from other countries. Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela were among the countries with the strongest representation, bringing writing from different backgrounds into the Torrevieja-based competition.
The connection between photography and storytelling provides the starting point for the event. Entrants develop a story in response to one of the selected images. Jaime Vera López’s two photographs therefore generated separate groups of submissions, with a final selection made for each photograph rather than a single shortlist covering both.
Following the initial assessment, twelve stories responding to the first image and ten inspired by the second reached the final deliberations. The judging panel comprised María Benavent Benavent, María Ángeles Boix Ballester, Dolores Sánchez Torres, Esther Elkouss Coronas and Vicente Barrachina Sánchez, chaired by Antonio Sala Buades. The chair read the decision and announced the winning titles and their authors.
Winning stories read at the Palacio de la Música
The evening began at 8pm and was organised and presented by José Miguel Toro. Councillors Salvador Ruso and Yolanda Cabezuelo were among those attending. The programme brought together an introduction to the autumn magazine’s contents and the announcement of the literary competition’s results.
Audience members also heard the winning works performed during the presentation. Alejandro Blanco Vega read «Elegía del resucitado», while Josefina Nieto Gómez performed «Al fiado». José Miguel Toro selected the accompanying music. The readings made the two stories part of the evening’s cultural programme, alongside the announcement of the awards.
Recognition for artist Rafael Torres Montesinos
Ars Creatio also recognised painter Rafael Torres Montesinos for his contributions to the association through his artwork and talks. As he was unable to attend because he was unwell, his wife, Soledad Manresa, accepted the association’s «logo salado» token of recognition on his behalf. It was presented by Josefina Nieto.
The association also outlined two forthcoming activities. A new Science Week is planned for 6–8 November, followed by a performance of «Proceso por la sombra de un burro» on 17 December. These are future events in Ars Creatio’s cultural programme, separate from the short-story awards announced at the October presentation.
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