José Watanabe

In 1970, Watanabe shared, with Antonio Cillóniz, first prize in the "Young Poet" contest organized by "Cuadernos trimestrales de Poesía".

He won the award Young Poet of Peru in 1971 with his first book, Album de Familia.

After a silence of almost two decades, he resumed publishing in 1989 with El huso de la palabra.

"He is one of the few living Peruvian authors that can be qualified as essential" wrote Esperanza López Parada in Babelia, the literary supplement of El País.

[citation needed] Watanabe was also involved in the film industry as a screenwriter, production designer and art director.