Casa de las Americas prize
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The Casa de las Américas Prize is a Cuban cultural award given by the Casa de las Américas, an organization founded in April 1959, four months after the Cuban Revolution. Its purpose was developing and extending the socio-cultural relations among the countries of Latin America, the Caribbean and the rest of the world.
Casa de las Americas was first headed by Hayde Santamaria and is currently directed by Roberto Fernandez Retamar. It promotes, supports, awards and publishes the work of writers, artists, musicians and academics. It is regarded as one of Latin America’s oldest and most prestigious literary awards.
Some of the scholars and writers who have won this prize are Edward Brathwaite, Eduardo Galeano, Susana Rotker, Françoise Perus, Beatriz González-Stephan and Luis Britto García.
Since 1976 there has been a jury for Caribbean literature in English or pidgin English. The first novel to win a prize from the Caribbean was Ikael Torass by N. D. Williams.
Writers and artists in Latin America and the Caribbean appreciate Casa's sustained work. They also commend the objectivity, rigor and fairness of its selections.
