Catalan poet Joan Margarit wins Spain’s Cervantes Prize
Posted November 14, 2019 8:33 am.
MADRID — The Spanish government says Catalan poet Joan Margarit has won the 2019 Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world’s highest literary honour.
Margarit has published over 20 volumes of poetry, mainly in Catalan but also in Spanish. The 81-year-old has won several awards for his verse.
Catalan is the language spoken along with Spanish in Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia.
The 125,000-euro ($137,600) award generally alternates between Spanish and Latin American writers.
Uruguayan poet Ida Vitale won the prize in 2018.
The prizes are presented each April 23 on the anniversary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes, author of “Don Quixote,” in a ceremony attended by King Felipe VI.
The Associated Press
