On November 22nd, in the university's branch in Guayaquil, they inaugurated the 9th international festival on Poetry "Ileana Espinel". After nine years this cultural and literary event has become a benchmark of national and international literature.

The festival, which will end on November 25th, is being attended by 20 international and 50 national poets. The aim is to present a more complete idea of poetry. "The idea is to get together to read, share, create links for the future in order to strengthen literature in Guayaquil and in the entire country", said professors Augusto Rodriguez. 

In the beginning, the festival was attended by only Latin American poets, then a few years ago it became international with the participation of European, American and Asian poets. 
The opening ceremony was attended by renown poets such as Fiaza Sultan, from Irak; Javier Bozalongo, from Spain; Keijiro Sugi, from Japan; John Burns, from USA; and Jean Portante, from Luxembourg. In 2017 they expect to have poets from Africa.

In this ninth edition there will be recitals, talks, book presentations and workshops for yougsters and adults. These activities will be held at UPS in Guayaquil, the Cultural Center of Guayas and the French Alliance. "These spaces help us reflect on the importance of language in our daily lives and through it we can be better people," Rodríguez said.

Jean Carlos Leon, a poet from Guayaquil, won first place with his work titled "Principios de Anarquia". "This talented young man has a lot to contribute to Ecuadorian poetry", said Rodriguez.