Spanish Poet Wins Top Award

Spanish poet Jose Garcia Nieto - who revived classical styles with works on God, love and the Castille region - received the Miguel de Cervantes prize Wednesday, the most prestigious literary award in the Spanish-speaking world.

The 83-year-old poet, inspired heavily by Roman Catholicism in his postwar work, has represented a return to a more classic, formalist style, including the use of 11-syllable lines that were popular in the 17th century.

Spanish academic Pedro Lain Entralgo once described Garcia Nieto’s poetry as “sensitive, ingenious, elegant, precise, emotional and intellectual.”

During Wednesday’s ceremony in Cervates’ hometown of Alcala de Henares, King Juan Carlos praised Garcia Nieto as “an exemplary defender of imagination and freedom.”

Garcia Nieto, who has used a wheelchair since suffering a stroke four years ago, said in his statement that “for me, poetry is a way of life.”

Garcia Nieto published his first novel, “Visperas hacia ti” (“Vespers Toward You”) in 1940 just after the Spanish Civil War.

He has written some 30 works, including “Sonetos por mi hija” (“Sonnets For My Daughter”) in 1953, “La hora undecima” (“The Eleventh Hour”) in 1963 and “Geografia es amor” (“Geography Is Love”).

The prize, named after the 17th-century author of “Don Quixote,” includes a tax-free $115,000.