Brazilian writer Rubem Fonseca won the inaugural Manuel Rojas Award, the equivalent in the field of fiction to the Pablo Neruda Chilean Award for poetry. The decision was held in Santiago – Chile in September 2012 by an international jury. Fonseca is now one of the most recognized Latin American writers, through its crime novels, its dry and sharp writing, he beautifully describes the harsh reality of the slums of Rio de Janeiro.

Manuel Rojas was detained in the prison of Valparaiso, as he described in is book Born Guilty. Today Rojas returns to this prison, converted into a Cultural Center, as a poet and as an anarchist.

The event, organized by the Manuel Rojas Foundation alongside with LOM Editions, will present two books that retrieve the literary and poetic legacy of the author: “Un Joven en La Batalla” by Jorge Guerra and “Su Voz Viene en el Viento” by Rodrigo Carvacho.

During the summer of 2012, the group of street artists called the Negotrópica Brigade, made ​​a mural of Manuel Rojas in the Mapocho neighborhood of Santiago – Chile.

The central theme of the mural is a portrait of Manuel Rojas accompanied by images that allude to his stories. Added to the painting there is a text that identifies the writer and a fragment of his poem “Tonada del transeúnte”, who says: “I am now an organized singing / chest deep harmonious / from the first morning of the world …”

Santiago – Chile, 25th of March 2012

To mark the centenary of the Manuel Rojas’ Andes crossing, the recently created Manuel Rojas Foundation unveiled its activities in various national media. It was in April 1912 that the author, then 16 years old, arrived in Chile after crossing the Andes on foot with a group of anarchists. This trek was a fundamental experience and marks the author’s beginning in literature, it will be told in several of his stories and novels.

“La Oscura Vida Radiante” exhibition opens new perspectives on the artistic interpretation of Manuel Rojas’ work through the abstract art.

The exhibition, named after the latest Manuel Rojas’ novel, was presented in Santiago at the Contemporary Art Center. More than twenty artists, convened by the curator Magdalena Atria, presented various ways to approach abstraction.

In order to disseminate the work of the Literature National Awards, the Association of Painters and Sculptors of Chile – APECH, organized an exhibition in honor of Manuel Rojas. Its associated artists were invited to submit small format plastic works, inspired by the life and work of the writer. The tribute was attended by more than fifty artists. The exhibition opened on June 7th 2011, at the headquarters of the APECH in Santiago – Chile.

On November 2010 was organized the first university symposium dedicated specifically to the work of Manuel Rojas. The meeting was convened by the Literature Departments of the Alberto Hurtado, Andrés Bello and Catholic Universities of Chile.

Led by a public memorial, Manuel Rojas returned to his childhood and school banks in Argentina where he studied between 1905 and 1906. The event took place at the Martina Silva de Gurruchaga School of the Boedo neighborhood, in Buenos Aires – Argentina. The inauguration of the memorial plaque was attended, among others, by the principal of the school, the community of Boedo, the Historical Studies of Boedo Group, the Chilean ambassador and personalities of the literary and cultural world of both countries. During the ceremony the life of Manuel Rojas was recalled, especially his childhood and adolescence.