This poetry competition, organised by the OPEN Bilbao Architecture Festival, BIZNA Estudio and the Escuela de Escritores, with the support of the Punta Begoña Foundation, aims to promote and raise awareness of the history of Punta Begoña Galleries and to pay tribute to the literary figure of Ramiro Pinilla.
Ramiro Pinilla devoted a significant part of his work to the town of Getxo, chronicling its industrialisation in his novels and short story collections. Punta Begoña Galleries feature frequently in his work, and he gave them the literary name ‘Palacio Galeón’.
Point, prop up, aim, pointed, blunt, dot. Prop.
What constitutes architectural and literary building material? How is a building, a poem or a verse constructed, and how is a story restored?
By applying the concept of restoration from a poetic perspective and focusing on the various nooks and crannies that make up the Punta Begoña Galleries complex, as well as the diversity of materials from which it is constructed, compose a poem inspired by the building. You must use Ramiro Pinilla’s Palacio Galeón as your literary foundation, borrowing the following line from Verdes valles, colinas rojas: «una galería corrida de punta a punta» or, if you are writing in Basque: «alderik aldeko galeria luzea».
Micro-poems must not exceed six lines (not including the title) and must contain the line: “una galería corrida de punta a punta”. If you submit your poem in Basque, the line to use is: “Alderik aldeko galeria luzea”.
You can submit your poem in Spanish or Basque by 7 Iraila.
On Monday 28 Iraila, the winner and finalists will be announced, and on Thursday 1 Urria, there will be a discussion with the jury and an awards ceremony.
The winning poem and the four runner-up poems from the I Edition of de Punta a Punta Micropoems Competition will be displayed at various locations within Punta Begoña Galleries, with the winner’s poem taking pride of place on the building’s façade.
In addition, they will receive the handbook Escribir Poesía (Writing Poetry), published by Páginas de Espuma, which will be presented at a launch event on the afternoon of Thursday 1 Urria at Punta Begoña Galleries.
The winner will also be invited to the opening lecture with Bernardo Atxaga as part of the Leer, Escribir, Crear (Reading, Writing, Creating) course in Bilbao, which will take place on Saturday 24 Urria.
The competition jury is made up of María Bengoa, Jorge Dioni López and Idoia Carramiñana.
Further information on the competition and how to register can be found here.
