UFR LLASICLanguage, literature, performing arts, information and communication, journalism

Each year, they recognize works published in Spanish, English, Portuguese, or in bilingual editions, in categories that include fiction, essays, poetry, translation, children’s and young adult literature, and debut works. Their goal is to help raise the profile of books written by, for, or about Latino communities in the United States and around the world.

For his first novel, Galafardos, published by Favila Editorial, German A. Duarte received two awards at the 2026 event:

• a gold medal in the Best First Book – Fiction category  
• a bronze medal in the category “The Dolores Huerta Best Cultural & Community-Themed Book”

Published in Colombia, Galafardos takes place in the Santurbán páramo, in the northeastern part of the country, and centers on the mining village of Vetas.
Through a fictional narrative rooted in the region’s social and environmental history, the novel explores the tensions between the land, memory, local communities, and mining. Vetas, a high-mountain village whose history is intimately linked to gold mining, thus becomes the setting for a story about the transformation of a region, the gradual disappearance of a world, and the memories of those who live there.