María Wieden, a student of Translation and Interlinguistic Mediation and winner of the Universitat de València Creative Writing Awards for the 16th edition in Spanish, tells us about her winning entry last year. As Wieden tells us, Casi Azul ("Almost Blue") is a collection of 10 poems about love, heartbreak and cities. ' When I think of the poems in this collection, I think mostly of the people in it: people who are no longer there, people I would like them to be, people who might come back. It's a photo album in characters', explains the student from the Faculty of Philology, Translation and Communication.

'I encourage you to read the poetry book, because now that we are at home more, that we have more time to reflect and miss, it is always a good time to read poetry and Casi Azul ('Almost Blue') is a good start to get into the world of poetry', adds the author. The call for the 17th edition of the Creative Writing Awards of the Universitat de València is still open after the presentation period was stopped by the declaration of the state of alarm.  Thus, interested students from Valencian universities will be able to submit their original works in the six categories: poetry in Valencian, poetry in Spanish, short stories in Valencian, short stories in Spanish, theatre and short film scripts. The winning work of each modality gets a prize of 1,000 euros, in addition to its publication.

Students from Valencian universities under 35 years of age can participate and students under 35 years of age from the Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático of Valencia can also participate in the theatre category.

Last year 180 original works were presented, of which 162 were works by students from the Universitat de València. A remarkable participation rate that shows that the contest contributes to promoting literary creation among students, as well as offering a first opportunity to see their work published professionally.

The Creative Writing Awards of the Universitat de València are organised by the Universitat de València's Information and Promotion Service (Sedi) with the collaboration of the Faculty of Philology, Translation and Communication, the Literature, Performing Arts and Film Classrooms of the Vice-Principal for Culture and Sport, Edicions 96 and the 21st Century Theatre Collection.

On the Sedi website you will find the rules for the 2020 competition and a collection of the winning works from the last edition, which were published by Edicions 96 and the Universitat de València (21st Century Theatre Collection. Texts).