The exhibition 'A Spanish-speaking writer from Trieste', has been recently opened, and is dedicated to the poet, narrator, essayist and translator Juan Octavio Prenz, who taught Spanish Literature at the University of Trieste for almost thirty years. The exhibition can be found in the ‘Stelio Crise’ State Library of Trieste (Biblioteca Statale).

An Argentian of Istrian origin, Prenz was an authentic protagonist of 20th-century culture, from his beginnings in Argentina as a writer, teacher and university professor, to his move to Europe following dictator Videla's rise to power, where he spent time teaching Spanish and Latin American Literature at the universities of Belgrade, Ljubljana, Venice and Trieste.

Among the many awards received during his extensive literary career, Prenz was awarded the prestigious Nonino International Prize in 2019.

The exhibition illustrates the path taken by Juan Octavio Prenz as a poet and storyteller, as well as a translator from Spanish into Slavic languages and from Slavic into Spanish. It was organised by the Association Archive and Documentation Centre of Regional Culture and the ‘Stelio Crise’ State Library of Trieste, under the patronage of the Department of Humanistic Studies in UniTS and PEN Trieste Aps.

Through his literary output, his relationships with some important writers are also considered, from Miguel Angel Asturias to Pablo Neruda, from Jorge Luis Borges to Günter Grass and Claudio Magris, who defined him as a ‘Latin American Central European’.

The exhibition, which will remain open until 26th April, presents personal handwritten notes, typescripts, letters, editions of various works, photographs, portraits and objects that belonged to the writer. It will be open from Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with free admission. It is closed on Saturdays and public holidays.