In February, the Secretary of Culture of Entre Ríos opened the annual call for the Fray Mocho award in the short story genre. The deadline for receiving works for the province’s most important literary award ends this June 28.
Within the framework of what is established by Law 7,823, promulgated at the end of 1986 and its regulatory decree No. 2,967 of 1987, the call for competition will award on this occasion a work of the short story genre.
During the time that has passed since the opening of the call, submissions with proposals have been received. Once the reception period has concluded, next Friday, the candidate works (signed with pseudonyms) included in the contest will be announced through the Secretariat’s communication platforms. The formal ceremony is assisted by the Government Notary Office.
The procedure continues with the work of the jury, which will announce its verdict on October 25, opening the envelope to find out the identity of the author of the winning work. The steps were established in the regulations approved resolution 04/24 of the Ministry of Culture, the provincial institution that carries out the administrative process of the award.
After announcing the winner, the editing and publication of the book continues, a task that is carried out by the Editorial de Entre Ríos (EDER). The call for applications from Fray Mocho is year-over-year: that is, in 2024 the opening of the contest corresponding to 2023 was announced. The last publication of Fray Mocho corresponds to “La Verdad”, a play by María Esther Bulacios from Colon, which won the 2021 award and was printed in March of this year. Awaiting its turn to be published is “The Wonder of the Days”, a collection of poems by Carla Olivera, the winning work of the 2022 call, whose call and analysis process was carried out in 2023.
The award is the highest literary distinction awarded by the provincial government, with the winning work receiving an edition of 1,000 copies, of which 200 are given to the author.
The Fray Mocho has continuity through annual calls, with rotation of different literary genres and in accordance with the following order: theater, poetry, short story, novel and essay.
The current call
To compete, a set of original and unpublished stories must be submitted, which must have a minimum length of 60 pages and a maximum of 100 pages, on a free topic.
The works must be sent only by certified postal item with the following legend: Fray Mocho Annual Literary Award – Cuento 2023 – Secretary of Culture of the Province of Entre Ríos. Gardel 42, CP 3100, Paraná, Entre Ríos, without placing the sender or document number or other information that identifies the author of the work sent.
For reports and queries, interested parties can contact the email: [email protected] or the telephone numbers 0343-4207828/4219833.
