Female poet, 95, wins top literary prize in Spain

SPAIN’S coveted literary award has been presented to a Uruguayan poet aged 95.
The Miguel de Cervantes Prize, named after the famous author of Don Quixote in 1975, is considered to be the ‘most prestigious and remunerative award given for Spanish-language literature’ by the Encyclopedia Britannica.
And last week, Spain’s culture minister, Jose Guirao, announced this year’s recipient is Ida Vitale, who is the last surviving member of a Uruguayan art movement known as the ‘Generation of 45’.
The jury said Vitale, who currently lives in America, was awarded the prize for her ‘poetry, literary criticisms and translations’.
It was added that her language was one of the ‘most remarkable and well-known in Spanish poetry’ while at the same time intellectual and accessible, universal and personal, transparent and profound.
Vitale, who is the fifth woman to win the prize, said she was ‘bewildered’ and said the award represented an ‘excess of generosity from Spain’.