Uriel Quesada, assistant professor of modern foreign language and literature, was awarded the Áncora Prize in Literature for 2003-2004 in San Jose, Costa Rica on March 14.

The Áncora is a semi-annual award given by the national newspaper of Costa Rica, La Nación. It is reputable throughout Costa Rica and its surrounding regions in Central America. Although the award has no monetary value, it carries a lot of prestige.

Quesada’s book, “Lejos, tan lejos,” published in the fall of 2004 is a collection of stories based on the theme of travel and margins of society throughout the Western Hemisphere. The stories are set in New Orleans, the Southwest United States and Havana.

Virginia Camaño, one of the judges in the area of literature, affirmed that Quesada surpassed all binomials and issues of bad/good, black/white, male/female, homosexual/heterosexual and many more issues that are raised in today’s society to discriminate groups or individuals.

Quesada who was born in San Jose, Costa Rica in 1962, received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Costa Rica in 1990 and a doctorate in Latin American literature from Tulane University in 2003.

In addition to ” Lejos tan lejos,” Quesada has published “Ese dia de los temblors” (1985), “El atardecer de los niños” (1988), “Larga vida de deseo” (1996) and “Si trina la canaria” (1999).

Tulane University’s Latin American Studies Department hosted a presentation of “Lejos, tan lejos” yesterday. The event was sponsored by the Tulane University Department of Spanish and Portuguese. – Alejandra Velasquez