Fina Garcia Marruz Awarded Queen Sophia Prize for Ibero-American Poetry

Cuban writer Fina Garcia Marruz has been granted the 20th Queen Sophia Prize for Ibero-American Poetry, one of the most important awards in this genre given by the Spanish institution Patrimonio Nacional (National Heritage) and the University of Salamanca, as announced on Thursday at the Royal Palace of Madrid.

Fina, born on April 28, 1923, has a degree on Social Sciences and she belonged to the group of Cuban poets and writers of the renowned magazine ‘Origenes’ (1944-1956), along with her late husband Cintio Vitier, Jose Lezama Lima and Eliseo Diego.

Fina is one of Cuba’s most outstanding poets of all times. She worked as a researcher at the Jose Marti National Library and also at the Center of Studies on the Life and Work of Jose Marti, where she was part of a team of authors of a critical edition of the Complete Works of the Cuban national hero. Some of her most important works include ‘Las miradas perdidas’, ‘Viaje a Nicaragua’ and ‘Créditos de Charlot’. In 1990, she received the National Prize for Literature.

Some previous winners of the Queen Sophia Prize for Ibero-American Poetry include Chilean Gonzalo Rojas (1992), Spanish Jose Hierro (1995) and Francisco Brines (2010), Uruguayan Mario Benedetti (1999) and Argentinean Juan Gelman (2005).

The award recognizes a living author for the literary value and contribution of his or her poetical works to the common cultural patrimony of Ibero-America and Spain.

This year’s jury included personalities such as Brines; Nicolas Martinez-Fresno, president of Patrimonio Nacional; Daniel Hernandez, rector of the University of Salamanca; and Jose Manuel Blecua, director of the Spanish Royal Academy.

The award is presented by Queen Sophia of Spain at the Hall of Columns of the Royal Palace in Madrid.