Antonio Orlando Rodríguez has been awarded the Ibero-American SM Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature
Cuban writer Antonio Orlando Rodríguez has unanimously won the XVIII Ibero-American SM Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature.
The jury expressed that "the author's writing, of undeniable strength and quality, awakens the readers' imagination in ways that renew astonishment" and that "his work poetically integrates diverse traditions and registers that navigate from his native Caribbean to other latitudes, transcending geographical, linguistic, and generational boundaries."
This recognition is awarded annually to an author and acknowledges their entire literary career. Previous recipients have been writers from Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Spain, and Mexico. It is the first time that the award is granted to a Cuban writer.