Nell Leyshon and Yuliana Ortiz win the sixth edition of the Granada International Writers-in-Residence Programme (2023)
The sixth edition of the International Writers-in-Residence Programme in Granada (after 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 editions), held by the Granada Unesco City of Literature Office (Arts Department of Granada City Council) and the University of Granada, has once again launched its worldwide call for applications through the network of Unesco Cities of Literature, with a large number of applictions with a very high overall quality.
A total number of 123 applications were submitted from 48 countries.
The distribution of applications received by country is as follows: Albania (1), Algeria (1), Argentina (6), Australia (4), Bahamas (1), Belarus (1), Belgium (2), Canada (3), Costa Rica (1), Croatia (1), Cuba (2), Dominican Republic (2), Ecuador (1), Georgia (1), Germany (1), Greece (1), Hungary (1), India (6), Indonesia (7), Iran (1), Ireland (5), Israel (1), Italy (2), Jordan (1), Kenya (1), Lithuania (2), Mexico (1), Mozambique (1), Netherlands (4), Nigeria (2), Peru (2), Poland (4), Romania (1), Saudi Arabia (1), Serbia (1), Singapore (1), Slovenia (2), South Africa (2), Spain (5), Sweden (1), Switzerland (1), Turkey (1), Trinidad and Tobago (1), Ukraine (2), United Kingdom (21), United States (9), Uruguay (2), and Venezuela (1).
The Jury
On 26 June 2023, the jury, meeting at the Federico García Lorca Centre in Granada, and composed of Pilar Núñez, representing the University of Granada, Jesús Ortega, representing the Granada City of Literature Unesco (Arts Department of Granada City Council) and the writer and bookseller Paula Puigmartí, chose Nell Leyshon (United Kingdom) and Yuliana Ortiz Ruano (Ecuador) as new Residents in the 2023 edition of the International Writers-in-Residence Programme in Granada.
After an initial realisation that it would be difficult to choose the winners of this edition, given the large number of proposals of enormous quality and solidity, and knowing that there were other proposals that also deserved to win the residencies, the members of the jury finally chose Nell Leyshon and Yuliana Ortiz Ruano. Of Leyshon, one of today’s most interesting British storytellers, the jury highlighted the seriousness and consistency of her literary career, consolidated through her excellent novels, translated into numerous languages and almost entirely into Spanish, as well as her prestigious theatre work. Leyshon has also convinced with his strong work proposal for Granada, and his knowledge of the Spanish language will provide him with an enriching contact with the local literary ecosystem. As for Yuliana Ortiz Ruano, the commitment is to promote the development of one of the most original and promising voices of young Latin American literature. Ortiz Ruano’s brilliant literary work, both in poetry and narrative, is inscribed with a powerful philosophical and political reflection; her poetics is located on the margins, in conversation with non-canonical traditions, and her revealing reflection on geographical exclusion as a driving force in writing is of great interest.
Nell Leyshon
Nell Leyshon is an award-winning novelist and dramatist. Her first novel, Black Dirt, was long-listed for the Orange Prize. The Colour of Milk has been published worldwide and won the Book of the Year in Spain, and the Prix de l’Union Interalliee, and was nominated for the Prix Femina in France. She won the Evening Standard award for best new playwright and was the first woman to write for Shakespeare’s Globe. Her play Folk, about folk song collecting and nationalism, was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2022. She also writes extensively for radio and her first radio play won the Richard Imison Award. In 2019 she performed her one woman show, Three Letters, at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her theatre adaptation of The Colour of Milk will premiere in Bilbao in Castellano and Euskara, then tour Spain.
Yuliana Ortiz Ruano
Yuliana Ortiz Ruano (Esmeraldas, Ecuador, in 1992) is Graduated in Literature with a mention in Arts and Writing. She has published in poetry Canciones desde el fin del mundo (Libero Editorial, Madrid, 2021) and Cuaderno del imposible retorno a Pangea (Ediciones Libros del Cardo, Valparaíso, 2021 – Recodo Press, Quito, 2021 – Amauta & Yaguar, Buenos Aires, 2022). Selected in the Translator Choice II of the Latin American Literature Festival LATINALE, organized by the Cervantes Institute of Berlin. Fiebre de carnaval (La Navaja Suiza, Madrid), her first novel, won the IESS Primo Romanzo Latinoamericano Award in Italy in 2023.
Winners of past editions of the Granada Writers-in-Residence Programme
2022: Frank Westerman (Netherlands) and Taimi Diéguez (Cuba)
2021: Iosi Havilio (Argentina) and Paulina Flores (Chile)
2019: Marli Roode (South Africa-UK) and Luciana Jazmín Coronado (Argentina)
2018: Sahar Delijani (Iran-USA) and Aleksandra Lipczak (Poland)
2017: Kirsty Logan (Scotland, UK) and Petra Zist (Slovenia)
Involved institutions
Granada UNESCO City of Literature, which depends on Granada City Council’s Department for the Arts, in partnership with the University of Granada (through its University Outreach and Patrimony Unit, International Development Unit, and Social Responsibility, Equality and Inclusion Unit, and the Corrala de Santiago Residency), is launching a new international Granada Writers in Residence Programme. The purpose of this programme is to strengthen international partnerships in the arts sector in general and in the field of writing in particular, which is one of the main objectives set by the city of Granada as a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN).
