The jury of the ‘Miguel de Cervantes’ Spanish Language Literature Prize, corresponding to 2023, has chosen Luis Mateo Díez as the winner of this year’s edition. The prize is worth 125,000 euros and is the most prestigious award in literature in Spanish.
The jury has awarded it to him for being “one of the great narrators of the Spanish language, heir to the Cervantine spirit and writer in the face of all adversity”, as well as creator of “imaginary worlds and territories”.
“With a prose, a sagacity and a style that make him unique in the literary consideration of the highest flight, Luis Mateo Díez surprises and offers continuous and new challenges with which he goes beyond the realm of fantasy and acquires reality in the readers, who “they appropriate their creative universe,” the ruling highlighted.
The jury highlighted that in Mateo Díez’s creations “the expertise and indisputable mastery of language stand out, which the author accredits in a writing in which he masterfully mixes the cultured and the popular.”
“A style of its own, demanding, of great originality, where expressionistic, parodic or grotesque humor prevails as the best way to relativize what happens, and which entails a lucid and ambiguous perspective that allows us to verify the complexity of the human condition,” he said. recognized by the jury.
The acting Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, was in charge of announcing the award to the author, who “took it with joy and gratitude.” “As it could not be otherwise, the awarding of a lifetime achievement award like this is a source of satisfaction,” he highlighted.
After remembering that the votes are secret, the minister did point out that all the members of the jury have intervened, “defending arguments and positions”, and have decided after “several votes always in the best terms.”
“This award annually pays public testimony of admiration to the figure of a writer who has contributed to enriching the Spanish-speaking legacy. Without a doubt, Mateo Díez is the example and we are glad that the award continues year after year, giving a level each time higher”, he highlighted.
The Cervantes awarded the award last year to the Venezuelan writer Rafael Cadenas and the previous year to the Uruguayan author Cristina Peri Rossi. Previously, two Spanish writers were awarded consecutively – Francisco Brines (2020) and Joan Margarit (2019) – and two Latin American writers – the Uruguayan Ida Vitale (2018) and the Nicaraguan Sergio Ramírez (2017) -, breaking the usual alternation of the prize.
The honors of recent years are completed with the names of Eduardo Mendoza (2016), Fernando del Paso (2015), Juan Goytisolo (2014), Elena Poniatowska (2013), José Manuel Caballero Bonald (2012) and Nicanor Parra (2011) , among others.
In 1976, Jorge Guillén, one of the greatest figures of the Generation of ’27, received the first of these awards and, since then, there have been 42 other winners: 20 Spaniards and another 22 Hispanic Americans. Only in 1979 were there two winners, when it was awarded ex aequo to Gerardo Diego and Jorge Luis Borges.
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