The Nicaraguan poet Gioconda Belli was awarded this Monday with the Reina Sofía Prize for Ibero-American Poetry, considered one of the most important in the world, the jury reported at a press conference from the Royal Palace in Madrid.
The jury, made up of prominent writers, including the director of the RAE, Santiago Muñoz Machado, and the director of the Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero; He considered that Belli, 74, has valued his creative expressiveness, freedom and poetic courage.
The award is endowed with some 42,000 euros and its purpose is to reward the poetic work of a living author who, due to its literary value, constitutes a relevant contribution to the common cultural heritage of Latin America and Spain, according to the website of the entity that perform recognition.
Belli dedicates the award to Nicaragua
Belli, who was stripped of her Nicaraguan nationality by the government of Daniel Ortega, who considers her a “traitor to the homeland”, reacted happily to the recognition and told the voice of america that the award was dedicated to his country.
“It is a very prestigious award that will really be a great satisfaction for me to receive it as a Nicaraguan, because there is nothing that is going to take away my being Nicaraguan, much less Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega,” he commented to the VOA Belli, who currently resides in Spain. “I dedicate this award to Nicaragua, that country that I love, which is the mother of all my dreams, of all my poetry, and my hope to live.”
The poetess added that the award honors her and assured that it gives her “great satisfaction that Nicaragua continues to receive awards for the excellence of its poetry.”
This is the third Reina Sofía Award that a poet has received in Nicaragua. The first was awarded to Ernesto Cardenal, in 2012, and later to Claribel Alegría, in 2017.
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