Puerto Rican writer wins lifetime achievement prize. Cambio16 in Madrid honors boricua Giannina Braschi for her life’s work in creating a literature of inspiration and hope. The iconic Puerto Rican poet and philosopher joins former Vice President of the United States Al Gore, actor Sir David Attenborough, and Spanish politician Isabel Díaz Ayuso as Cambio16 honorees.
Cambiemos Prize Goes to Giannina Braschi
Puerto Rican author wins Spanish Prize Cambiemos
Lifetime Achievement Award for a Literature of Hope
The Cambiemos Prize Letter
At the proposal of the Editorial Board of Cambio16 magazine, the oldest publication of its kind in Spain and the one with the greatest international presence, and which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary, I am honored to inform you of the unanimous decision regarding the “Cambiemos” Cambio 16 award, which will be presented, in keeping with our tradition, at a gala event scheduled to take place on November 29 at The Westin Palace Hotel in Madrid, commencing at 9:30 a.m.
There is no better candidate than Giannina Braschi, who pivots between her native Puerto Rico and her adopted New York—bridging two shores, providing a nexus for the integration and inclusion of two worlds that mutually coexist and understand each other, that suffer and love and reconcile, descending to the street and rising lyrically toward a steely blue sky—to embody the spirit of Cambiemos and Cambio16, whose editorial purpose is to build a more humane, just, and regenerative world. The jury has deeply valued the impact that this Puerto Rican poet’s work has had on the literary world in both Spanish and English, and also in Spanglish, the language of dreams in which simple and everyday people express themselves—representing the revolution in all of us—and who will one day will inherit the earth.
Giannina Braschi casts her soul-felt verses in a creative yearning that seeks to extract literature from literature, resulting in a kind of metapoetry in which distinct and diverse styles and voices, attitudes and desires, genres and figures, tongues and languages coexist along with the buzzwords heard at the corner, and the deep and profound regrets of all those who feel. Her work reflects the divine value of ordinary gestures, the daily madness, habits, and customs that fill our lives. For this reason, she is unsettling and emotional: An agitator with soft forms and a gentle manner, who makes paradox her philosophy of life because it is precisely through contradiction that we can appreciate difference, and through activism, the actions that can transform the future. Her literary vision is frank, cordial, ravishingly truthful, innovative, effusive, and naïve, yet also disturbing, and not without a fine sense of irony, which, at times, overflows with acidic and iconoclastic humor.
We trust that you will accept this distinction and celebrate our anniversary with us. Half a century may seem like a long a time in this age when we live at such breakneck speed, but it is nothing to those who leave a deep mark in their wake and become the agents of change, capable of bringing happiness to the hearts of their fellow human beings and a better life for all.
Giannina Braschi brings hope and inspiration for so many through her literary production.
Jorge Neri Bonilla, Editor-in-Chief, Cambio16, 2021
El Premio Cambiemos es para Giannina Braschi. Nadie mejor que ella, a caballo entre su Puerto Rico natal y Nueva York, puente entre dos orillas, nexo para la integración e inclusión de dos mundos que conviven y se entienden, sufren y aman, se reconcilian, bajan al nivel de la calle y se elevan hacia un cielo lírico difícilmente azul, para encarnar el espíritu de Cambiemos, el propósito editorial de Cambio16 para la construcción de un mundo más humano, justo y regenerativo. Su obra ha impactado en el mundo literario tanto en español como en inglés y, también, en espanglish, el idioma de los sueños en el que se expresa la gente sencilla…
Puerto Rican Writer Wins Lifetime Achievement Prize: Cambio16 honors Giannina Braschi for creating a literature of hope.
Giannina Braschi is the author of Empire of Dreams, Yo-Yo Boing!, and United States of Banana. Click here to read more about Braschi’s literature and philosophy.
(Puerto Rican Writer Wins Lifetime Achievement Prize: Cambiemos 2021.)