Initiated in Havana in 1960 to draw attention to the most significant literary production in Latin America—and at a later date, the Caribbean, too—in the genres of poetry, novel, short story, essay, theatre and testimony, as well as works in other languages spoken in the region, the Casa de las Américas Literary Award has gathered outstanding figures of contemporary writing, including Miguel Ángel Asturias, Mario Vargas Llosa, Julio Cortázar, Alejo Carpentier, Allen Ginsberg, Nicolás Guillén, Nicanor Parra, Jaime Sabines, Alfredo Bryce Echenique, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Eduardo Galeano, Paco Ignacio Taibo II, José Lezama Lima, Italo Calvino, Camilo José Cela, José Saramago, to name a few. Throughout the years, many of the prize-winning works have become classics of the continent’s literature; thus, each year’s announcement creates great expectations among the public, who also have the opportunity to attend collateral activities programmed during the event.