With a program that included poetry readings, musical performances, and dance, the Bachelor's Program in Literature and Spanish Language celebrated Languages Day with a tribute to the poetic legacy of student Elvia Cristina López Medina and Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa.

As part of the Languages Day celebration, the academic community of the Literature and Spanish Language Degree at the University of Cauca held its traditional event in the main courtyard of the El Carmen Cloister. The event featured poetry readings, musical and dance performances, all centered around languages and literature.

Constanza Edy Sandoval Paz, current head of the Spanish and Literature Program, explained that this space is meant to honor languages, especially considering that, in addition to Spanish, nearly 69 native languages are spoken in Colombia.

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During the event, tribute was also paid—through verse and word—to the poetic legacy of student Elvia Cristina López Medina, who recently passed away. Another posthumous tribute was made to Mario Vargas Llosa, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature and one of the key figures of the Latin American Boom, a movement that brought global attention to 20th-century Latin American literature.

Felipe Restrepo David, professor in the Department of Spanish and Literature, highlighted that Vargas Llosa was not only a great novelist and essayist, but also a notable promoter of literature written by young authors and women. He acknowledged the tension between Vargas Llosa’s literary brilliance and his radical political stances, which often clashed with the cultural, historical, and artistic interests of his home country.

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Professor Restrepo encourages first-time readers to explore Vargas Llosa’s more accessible novels, where he masterfully narrates the passions of human life. One example is Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, a novel that offers delightful entertainment and deep reflections on desire and love—not only in youth, but also in adulthood.

Professor Sandoval Paz also highlighted a special moment during the celebration: first-semester students received anonymous letters from ninth-semester peers, welcoming them to the program and offering academic and literary advice to support their journey at the University of Cauca.

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This event serves as a reminder to students to value languages, books, and reading. Quoting Vargas Llosa, Professor Sandoval emphasized that reading allows us to experience other lives and other worlds: “It is to live other lives within this life.”

 

Written by: Communications – Center for Communications Management