{"id":247707,"date":"2026-02-18T09:05:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/?p=247707"},"modified":"2026-02-18T09:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:19:09","slug":"pedro-verges-honored-with-2026-national-literature-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/2026\/02\/18\/pedro-verges-honored-with-2026-national-literature-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"Pedro Verg\u00e9s honored with 2026 National Literature Prize"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In a ceremony that celebrated a lifetime of intellectual rigor and creative mastery, writer and diplomat Pedro Verg\u00e9s was formally presented with the 2026 National Literature Prize on the evening of 17 February 2026. The event, held at the Carlos Piantini Hall of the Eduardo Brito National Theater, marks the highest distinction in Dominican literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The award, co-sponsored by the Corripio Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, was presented by Jos\u00e9 Luis Corripio Estrada (Don Pep\u00edn) and Minister of Culture Roberto \u00c1ngel Salcedo. The Corripio Foundation is the sponsor of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his acceptance speech, Verg\u00e9s issued a poignant call to action, urging the literary community to combat the “alarming trivialization” of modern literature and to strengthen critical thinking as a “public responsibility”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verg\u00e9s, who had served as Minister of Culture from 2016 to 2018, was selected unanimously by a jury composed of university rectors and cultural leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel highlighted his “exemplary prose” and his role in elevating Dominican narrative to new levels of aesthetic complexity. As part of the honors, the author received a commemorative diploma and a cash endowment of two million Dominican pesos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verges\u2019 biography
Born in Santo Domingo in 1945, Verg\u00e9s\u2019s literary journey began decades ago with studies in philology at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. His career has been defined by a dual path of creative writing and high-level diplomacy, having served as the Dominican Republic\u2019s ambassador to Spain, Germany, Japan, and the Organization of American States (OAS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His most celebrated work remains the 1981 novel Solo cenizas hallar\u00e1s (Bolero), which won the prestigious Critics’ Prize in Spain and the Blasco Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez International Prize. More recently, Verg\u00e9s returned to the spotlight with his 2023 novel Ya yo estar\u00e9 lejos, which earned the National Book Fair Prize that same year, proving his continued relevance in the contemporary literary scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more in Spanish:
Hoy <\/a>
Fundacion Corripio <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

18 February 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a ceremony that celebrated a lifetime of intellectual rigor and creative mastery, writer and diplomat Pedro Verg\u00e9s was formally presented with the 2026 National Literature Prize on the evening of 17 February 2026. The event, held at the Carlos Piantini Hall of the Eduardo Brito National Theater, marks the highest distinction in Dominican literature. … <\/p>\n

Read more\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[340,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247707"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247723,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247707\/revisions\/247723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}