The Minister of Education Begoña Pedrosa distributed the Urruzuno awards on August 30, which are the literary competition awards organized by the Department of Education of the Basque Government for Secondary Education students. Led by the writer and journalist Jasone Osoro, in the event held at the Lakua residence, about twenty boys and girls received their prizes - the relatives of the winners and representatives of the schools also attended the event.

The Urruzuno prize aims to promote literary interest and Basque among secondary school students. Also, the awards are a unique opportunity to create a community among students who are interested in the world of writing, as it creates the opportunity for these students to meet, get to know each other and learn together. In fact, the prize consists of a literary stay: a learning and living experience in Arantza (Navarro). For five days, the awardees took part in conferences, workshops and recitals, together with outstanding people in the fields of literature and music, such as Patxi Zubizarreta, Ruper Ordorika or Itxaro Borda. They shared with the young people their inspiring experiences along the way, and gave them useful advice to continue improving their writing and creative work.

Reading The key to developing intelligence and creativity

The Department of Education places this initiative in the Reading Strategy for the Basque Education System, this strategy is already being extended with Basque schools. At the opening ceremony, the Minister of Education, Begoña Pedrosa, emphasized the importance of reading, to encourage critical and creative skills, as well as to encourage the development of language and communication. It is essential to get the involvement of the whole educational community in order to promote the habit of reading and to promote reading.

Minister Pedrosa encouraged the students to continue with effort and commitment in their efforts to write and to develop their talent and creativity, so that in the future they can help promote reading in the Basque Country and promote its culture and language with their writings.

He also congratulated all the schools for their commitment to promoting reading among students, and especially thanked the effort made to encourage boys and girls to participate in the Urruzuno competition.

A competition surrounded by the great creators of Basque literature
More than 600 young people have passed through this competition, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year, and among them are artists and creators who are now very popular, such as Alaine Agirre, Mikel Ayllón, Leire Bilbao, Goiatz Labandibar, Miren Gorrotxategi, Peru Iparragirre or Estibaliz Vivanco - everyone received the award at the beginning of their journey.

In this 2024 edition, a total of 278 essays have been submitted to the competition: 92 in poetry and 186 in prose.