Background

The United Nations declared October 2nd the international day of nonviolence. On that day The World March for Peace and Nonviolence, organized by Mundo Sin Guerras (World without Wars), will set off from New Zealand, passing through 100 cities in 90 countries. That same day,  Pacifistas sin Fronteras (Pacifists without Borders) will hold the World Peace Summit in Bogota. And that same day, the Las Filigranas de Perder will give the awards for the Pacifist Poetry and Short Story World Contest within the Summit.

Las Filigranas de Perder and Pacifistas Sin Fronteras have joined the March as supporters, and have registered the Summit and the Competition on the March's website as initiatives to be incorporated into its activities.

The Pacifist Poetry and Short Story World Contest is an initiative of Las Filigranas de Perder, with logistical and/or media support from Pacifistas sin Fronteras,  the program Libro al viento (Book to the Wind) in Hospitals, the District Secretary of Health of Bogota, REDNEL, Lapis Lazuli newspaper, Notici@scadadía, Salaletra literary group, Network and Action international magazine, Parallel 30 literary magazine, Eldígoras, Isla_Negra, La Fábrica Azul, Espacio Y, El Laberinto Cultural Foundation, ARCCO Network, Pretextos poetry group, El Túnel literary center, Glitza: Páginas de Agua literary workshop, Poesía y Algo Más blog, Jaime Cerrón Palomino study and cultural promotion center, RUMI literary workshop, and a growing number of organizations and volunteers all over the world.

The Pacifist Poetry and Short Story World Contest will be developed through Internet and in the largest possible number of languages, to make it truly worldwide. In order to make this a reality, we have a group of translators in Arabic, German, Catalan, French, Hebrew, English, Italian, Portuguese, and Wayuu, and we have judges in Catalan, Spanish, Italian, portuguese, and Wayuu. We also have received support for a team of translators and judges in Quechua Wanka. We especially need judges, who must have some experience as writers and/or literary critics in the language for which they apply as jurors.

The jurors and translators can be located anywhere in the world, because all of the work will be done through e-mail and chat. In order to register, it is necessary to send your personal data (full name, nationality, country of residence, gender, occupation) and, in the case of jurors, a brief biography in which you specify your literary experience (prizes, publications, etc.) to: lasfiligranasdeperder@gmail.com.

Organization

The official language of the competition is Spanish. Therefore, all texts will be published in their original language and in their translation into Spanish. On the blog or website the translations to the other languages of the competition will also be published.

The Organizers

Las Filigranas de Perder is an independent literary movement made up of writers and readers from different points on the globe. It was created in Bogota, Colombia on April 20th, 2006, in order to create a space for meeting and expression for writers regardless of age, sex, nationality, ethnic group, creed, social condition or writing experience. Specifically, it was created as a call to literature to those authors who write only for themselves or that do not write, because they have been victims of rejection or fear being rejected. Additionally, the movement aspires to be the center of a school of Collective Creation in Literature. This is a movement of creative stimulation and dissemination at the literary level in Spanish, separate from the traditional circles of the publishing and entertainment industries. In its blog you also can find texts of Brazilian and Portuguese authors in their language.

We promote reading and writing as part of processes which aim to recover the word, health and memory. We promote literary collective creation as a creative movement that opens up new horizons for writers, and as a mechanism of recovering values of solidarity and cooperation, as well as part of processes of social integration and construction of social fabric. We believe  in the transformative power of art and in the need to form conscious and participating citizens through literature and culture.

Las Filigranas de Perder does not aim to make a profit. Any author can send their texts (in Spanish or Portuguese) to the email of the movement (lasfiligranasdeperder@gmail.com), by which he or she authorizes that these texts be published in its blog  and  that the movement use and disseminate them as they deem appropriate. There is no cost to the authors, nor do they at any time give up their rights to authorship. The Movement does not receive economic profit from this activity. We do this work out of a love of literature, and hope that it serves as an example to recover the art of writing for love of Literature, and not for an unhealthy search of swift recognition, money and fame.

It is composed of three founding members (Alex Acevedo, Carlos Ayala and Néstor Pedraza) who define its policies. They design and organize its activities, and manage its operation. It is also composed of four members that support and contribute with ideas, who design and manage the projects (Karonlains Alarcón, Laura Vásquez, Patricia Alvarado and Alexandra Portela). This movement is also composed of its members, who are all the authors and collaborators who have published one or more texts in the blog, up to 140 authors, from published to unpublished, anonymous to well-known, from 17 countries in Africa, America, Asia and Europe.

Contest Director

Néstor Hernán Pedraza Hurtado (born Zipaquirá - Colombia, 1971). Muslim. Expert in Information technologies, director of software development projects, he  abandoned technology for over two years to dedicate himself to writing, leading workshops and being a cultural manager. He has recently come back to his technological labor as manager of applications and databases for a university in Bogotá, Colombia.

Volunteer for the program “Libro al Viento” (Book to the wind) in hospitals of the District Department of Health of Bogota, and in “Las Voces del Secuestro” (The Kidnapping Voices), radial broadcast in Caracol Radio. Academic speaker on Islam. Member of the Global Network of Writers in Spanish. Member of the Network to promote reading. Member of the board of directors of the Islamic Center of Bogotá. Director of the Filigranas de Perder independent literary movement. Executive director of the Pacifist Poetry and Short Story World Contest.

Literary Experience: Micro-short story prize (Champagnat School, 1981), drama (Coldemag, 1988), Short story (National University of Colombia’s Engineers Cultural Movement, 1992), Short story (National University of Colombia Literature Department, 1992) , Short story (Italy, 2006). Cofounder of Los Viernes de la Cultura (Fridays of Culture), Biology Department, National University of Colombia (1992-93). Central University's writers workshop (1992). National University of Colombia’s Narrative Workshop (1994).

Co-author (with Alex Acevedo and Carlos Ayala) of 3 novels: The Installer (Honorable Mention, National Prize of Novel, IDCT, 2002; A season of salt (2003) and Manual of magnetic levitation (Finalist, Short Novel Prize, TEUC’s 25 years). Speaker at the 2nd Internacional Literature Symposium of Universidad Central (2006). Cofounder of the independent literary movement “Las Filigranas de Perder” (2006). Codirector of the Essay and Short Story Workshop “En la Inmunda”. Codirector of the “Collective Creation Workshops” project, winner of Bogota, An Open Book (event in Bogota,  World Capital of Book 2007) organized by the District Department of Culture, Recreation and Sport. Co-editor and co-author of the book Virginal Symbiosis (texts anthology written colectively, 2008). Co-author of short story “Siete Hierbas y Un Gatito” (Seven Herbs and a kitten), included in the Arango Editores’ anthology Route signals (2008).