From forests and border towns to sacred temples, The Asunción Times Writing Competition 2025’s winners present texts that portray Paraguay through lived experience and cultural insight. The editorial team received stories shaped by emotion rather than distance, and by daily life rather than tourism. Instead of simple descriptions, participants reflect on identity, belonging, and the significance of place.
The Writing Competition 2025 featured People’s Choice winners alongside an Editor’s Choice award. Together, their range of voices highlights how Paraguay can be understood from many different perspectives.
The People’s Choice winner: Ren O’Flaherty
Ren O’Flaherty, 29, is an Australian backpacker with aspirations of becoming a travel journalist. During her time in Paraguay, she volunteered for two weeks at the Mbaracayú Forest Nature Reserve, where she set out on a personal quest to find the Pájaro campana, Paraguay’s national bird. However, the experience quickly grew into something far deeper than a wildlife search.
“I connected to the culture there through food, the language, learning the Guaraní astronomy, tereré rituals, and through the stunning and unique nature”, Ren says.
Rather than focusing solely on nature, she centres her writing on people and shared experience. “I try to take the reader there through their senses: what they could see, hear, and feel if they had been in the forest looking for that bird too.”
When she finally encountered the bird, the moment became a collective celebration. “It was not just me celebrating; my colleagues had joined me on the mission to help out, the other volunteers at the reserve were stoked for me, and even some of the students came up to see the pictures and videos.” Consequently, her story extends far beyond the reserve itself, sparking curiosity about Paraguay among friends and family abroad.
For Ren, the reserve is a backdrop to a larger story about openness and cultural pride. “Paraguayans have such an openness to sharing their culture and being able to connect in a place as beautiful and wild as the reserve is so special.” Her story highlights how travel writing “has a unique ability to transport the experience of the writer into a connection and memory for the readers too.”
Second place People’s Choice: Antonella Rodríguez Falcón
Antonella Rodríguez Falcón, 29, is from Paysandú, a city in northern Uruguay. Her chosen place, Paraguay’s city of San Antonio, is located in the Central Department, right on the Paraguay River.
“From the very first encounter, my heart seemed to recognise this place as something familiar”, Antonella explains. “It is difficult to articulate the nature of this bond. Yet I am certain that love plays a central role in it.” Writing became a way to honour that connection: “I feel a compelling need to give shape, through words, to what this place truly represents for me.”
In her story, Antonella focuses on the strength and resilience of the city and its people. Rather than describing landscapes, she turns to history and the quiet traces of the past that continue to shape everyday life. “I was guided by the image of threads of history woven across time, eventually converging at a single point in our present.” Consequently, San Antonio emerges as a symbol of the warmth and endurance she associates with Paraguay beyond the capital.
Antonella believes writing can slow time. “In a hurried and noisy world, it is essential not only to value silence. But also to aspire to the utopia of pausing time, something that only literature can truly make possible.” For her, writing becomes an act of care: “Preserving what has been shaped over countless years requires sustaining a deep connection with the soul of what came before us.”
Third Place People’s Choice: Karim Páez
Karim Páez, 23, is from Mariano Roque Alonso and chose Plaza Conavi as her favourite place. What began as a daily walk to build healthier habits soon became something more meaningful. “The more I looked, the more I noticed little things about it.”
Raised in the neighbourhood, Karim admits she once took the park for granted. “It has always been there.” In her writing, she aims to capture familiarity with fresh eyes. “I wanted to put the reader in the position where they found themselves also looking around the park.”
Her story is shaped by small moments: dogs playing, neighbours greeting each other, children chatting in trees. For Karim, the park represents the Paraguayan spirit. “Is there a better way to absorb Paraguayan culture than to drink tereré with people you have never met before and still treat everyone like you have always known them?”
Editor’s Choice: Violeta Castellani
Violeta Castellani, 35, is from Villa Elisa, Paraguay. Her Writing Competition 2025 winning story focuses on the Saint Buenaventura Temple. Such place immediately comes to mind when she thinks of a place outside Asunción.
“The image of its decorations has always stayed with me,” recalling childhood visits with her family that later deepened during one of her last outings with her father. The temple becomes inseparable from memory and loss.
Writing about the temple presents a challenge, particularly because of its rich visual detail. Violeta shares: “Describing a place with so much amazing art is a total challenge. But I want to let people imagine how my own experience and feelings about visiting the temple are through my words.”
She focused on emotion and sensory details. As well as noting how crossing the doors and seeing the columns, colours, and ornaments shaped her writing.
For Violeta, the temple represents Paraguay’s many hidden treasures. She believes writing is “a way to preserve what images cannot fully capture, transforming personal memory into shared experience.” Above all, she encourages future participants with a simple message: “Do not be afraid of being read. It is a great opportunity.”
Ultimately, the competition proves that Paraguay lives through shared voices. The writers invite readers to explore the culture, resilience, and beauty outside Asunción.
