On the afternoon of this twenty-six November the prestigious Cuban writer Leonardo Padura was officially elevated to membership of the Cuban Academy of Language (ACuL). The entrance ceremony took place in the Aula Magna of the University College of San Gerónimo, where the laureate writer, National Prize for Literature 2012 and Princess of Asturias Award of Letters 2015 among dissimilar awards, read his unpublished essay “What a novel is written for”.
In addition to the present public, number members of the Academy and its board of directors headed by Mr. Rogelio Rodríguez Coronel participated. The latter solemnly gave Padura the medal with the letter U that identifies the chair that corresponds to him as an academic, the accrediting diploma and a copy of the latest edition of the Dictionary of the Spanish Language.
After a long wait for many Cubans, in April of this year, Leonardo Padura was granted the status of Member of Number of the Academy of the Language of Cuba, having previously been appointed Honorary Member of the National Academies of Puerto Rico, Panama and Costa Rica.
The highest impact Cuban novelist today will occupy the chair belonging to the illustrious Monsignor Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. The seat of the letter U now corresponds to the often antillean that still resides in the village of Mantilla and that his great work of more than 25 books, including twelve novels, has been translated into more than 24 languages and is present in all corners and bookstores.
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