Iceta attends the presentation of the Cervantes Prize 2022 to Rafael Cadenas, together with the King and Queen of Spain

The Ministry of Culture and Sport awards the Miguel de Cervantes Prize to writers who contribute with works of notable quality to enriching the Hispanic literary legacy.

The jury, which met on 10 November, awarded the prize to Rafael Cadenas for "his vast and extensive literary work", recognising "the transcendence of a creator who has made poetry a reason for his own existence and has taken it to heights of excellence in our language". According to the jury, "his work is one of the most important there is, and a demonstration of the transformative power of the word when language is pushed to the limit of its creative possibilities". Cadenas "makes words distil their dazzling essence, placing them in the dual territory of dream and wakefulness, and making his poems a profound expression of existence itself and of the universe, likewise placing them in a dimension that is both mystical and earthly".

This is the first prize-winning author from Venezuela, thereby widening the geographical scope of the prize winners.

Cervantes Prize

The Cervantes Prize was awarded for the first time in 1976 to Jorge Guillén, and since then a total of 48 authors have been awarded it. In 1979, the Prize was awarded ex aequo to Jorge Luis Borges and Gerardo Diego. Since then, the order of convocation stipulates that the Prize may not be divided, declared void or awarded posthumously.

The awarding of this prize, endowed with 125,000 euros, is an annual public testimony of admiration for the figure of a writer who, through their work as a whole, has contributed to enriching the Hispanic literary legacy.

The Cervantes Prize may be awarded to any author whose literary work is written entirely, or mostly, in Spanish. Candidates for the Prize may be put forward by the Academies of the Spanish Language, by authors who have won prizes in previous editions, by institutions which, due to their nature, aims or content, are linked to literature in the Spanish language, and by the members of the Jury.

Rafael Cadenas

Rafael Cadenas (Barquisimeto, Venezuela, 1930) belongs to the Venezuelan generation of 1960. He was part of the Tabla Redonda group, along with Arnaldo Acosta Bello, Jesús Guédez, Ángel Eduardo Acevedo, Darlo Lancini, José Barroeta and Sanoja Hernández. He is a translator of English poetry, was a university lecturer and has an extensive portfolio of essays considered a reference in contemporary literary thought in Spanish, including titles such as 'En torno al lenguaje' and the 'Apuntes sobre San Juan de la Cruz y la mística' (Notes on Saint John of the Cross and mysticism).

Cadenas, who is still actively writing, is the author of more than twenty internationally acclaimed books, including 'Cantos iniciales' (1946), 'Una isla' (1958), 'Los cuadernos del destierro' (1960, 2001), the poem 'Derrota' (1963), 'Falsas maniobras' (1966), 'Intemperie' (1977), 'Memorial' (1977) and 'Amante' (1983), Dichos' (1992), 'Gestiones' (1992), 'Antología' (1958-1993, 1996, 1999), 'Amante' (2002), 'Poemas selectos' (2004, 2006, 2009), 'El taller de al lado' (2005), 'Sobre abierto' (2012), 'En torno a Basho y otros asuntos' (2016) and 'Contestaciones' (2018).

Rafael Cadenas's poems and essays have earned him several awards, including the San Juan de la Cruz Prize (1992), the Mozarteum Foundation of Venezuela Prize (1993), the FIL Prize for Literature in Romance Languages (2012), the Federico García Lorca International Poetry Prize (2015) and the Queen Sofía Prize for Ibero-American Poetry (2018), and several recognitions in his country, such as the honorary doctorate from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and the Andrés Bello Prize from the Venezuelan Academy of Language, among others.

Jury

The jury, which met on 10 November, was chaired by Aurora Gloria Egido Martínez, a unanimously appointed representative of the Royal Spanish Academy, who also acted as a member. María José Gálvez Salvador, Director General of Books and Reading Promotion, acted as secretary, with voice but no vote, and Begoña Cerro Prada, Deputy Director General of Book, Reading and Spanish Literature Promotion, acted as recording secretary, likewise with voice but no vote.

The jury was also made up of Albino Chacón Gutiérrez, for the Costa Rican Academy of Language; Esther Borrego Gutiérrez, for the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE); Mónica Lavín Maroto, for the Union of Latin American Universities (UDUAL); Raquel Caleya Caña, for the Cervantes Institute; Juan Casamayor Vizcaíno, for the Directorate General of Books and Reading Promotion of the Ministry of Culture and Sport; Francisco Javier Galán Gamero, for the Federation of Associations of Journalists of Spain (FAPE); Doraliza Jiménez Villarroel, for the Presidency of the Latin American Federation of Journalists (FELAP); and Lucas Torres Armendáriz, for the International Association of Hispanists. The 2021 prize-winning writer, Cristina Peri Rossi, regretfully could not attend the occasion.

Non official translation