Fifth Edition, 2008

The objective of the Essay Competition “Thinking Against the Mainstream” is to recognize and disseminate critical thought dealing with the problems and challenges of the contemporary world, from a broad anti-imperialist and fraternal view-point.

1. Authors from all countries may submit an unpublished essay in Spanish, Portuguese, English, or French, or a translation of the essay into any of these languages. The essay must not have obtained previous awards at other contests and must not be under option for publication elsewhere

2. Each essay should be between 20 and 40 pages long, each page consisting of up to 1800 characters (30 lines of up to 60 characters each), for a maximum admissible of 72,000 characters.

3. Only one essay may be submitted by the entrant.

4. Essays must be submitted before November 15 2007 via e-mail as an attached file, in any PC document-compatible extension, preferably .rtf (.doc or open-format files, such as .odt, will also be accepted), to the following address: contracorriente@cubarte.cult.cu. The e-mail must contain the entrant’s full name, address and a short curriculum vitae. The contest office will send the author confirmation that it has received his work and that it will be participating in the contest.

5. An international jury will award three prizes, consisting of 1500, 1000 and 500 euros, for first, second and third places, respectively. As many honorable mentions as the jury deems fit will also be awarded, but these do not involve any monetary reward.

6. A collection of the awarded essays will be published together with a selection of submitted essays. The Cuban Institute of Books reserves the rights to a first publication of the essays, within a year from the submission deadline.

7. The jury’s decision is final and unappealable, and will be made public on February 2008, in Havana, in the amidst of the celebration of the International Book Fair of Cuba.

8. Participation in the contest implies acceptance of these rules.