Awards night for winners of the 2020 Copé Awards

Through the Facebook live of the PETROPERU Cultural Center, the award ceremony of the winners of the 2020 Copé XXI Short Story Biennial and VII Essay Biennial was held, with the special participation of the Minister of Culture, Alejandro Neyra Sánchez.

On the day, Miguel Ruiz Effio, winner of the Gold Copé Award, in the Short Story category, and David Quichua Chaico, winner in the Essay category, were awarded. Likewise, a deserved recognition was given to the finalists who managed to obtain an honorable mention in both categories. As every year, the state oil company will soon publish the winning works.

PETROPERU's Chairman of the Board, Eduardo Guevara Dodds, who chaired the ceremony, highlighted the high percentage of participants in the calls, both in the Short Story and Essay categories, in relation to previous years. In this sense, he also thanked the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which -through the Peruvian diplomatic missions- disseminated, outside the country, the rules of the contest to all interested parties.

In turn, the Minister of Culture, Alejandro Neyra, emphasized the zeal and effort on the part of the state oil company in carrying out, for 41 years, the Copé awards, considered the most important literary awards in the country. "This award does nothing but consolidate the existing links between PETROPERU and the Peruvian community, contributing to the promotion of new cultural values," he said.

It should be noted that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and in order to safeguard the health of the participants in the contest, the processes for calling, receiving papers and qualifying were entirely virtual, enabling a platform for all Interested parties enter their works and personal data, without the need to physically send their works.