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CARLOS FUENTES, 2011 LITERATURE AWARD

“For the undeniable value of his literary work, which has raised the Spanish language to the greatest heights of expression, and for the internationally profound effects of his literature; his commitment to culture, freedom, and the defense of human rights is exemplified through works such as “Where the Air is Clear”, “The Death of Artemio Cruz”, “The Old Gringo”, “Burnt Water” and “In This I Believe”.  Finally, for the capacity of his work to serve as a bridge between Europe and Latin America, particularly through his studies of cultural crossbreeding and his examination of the relationship between Mexico and Spain as its most important expression”.




Carlos Fuentes

R.I.P., prolific writer and extraordinary intellectual. Deceased in 2012.

These were the words in the announcement of the jury decision for the Gabarron International Award of Literature 2011. The jury recognized CARLOS FUENTES contribution and relevance under the presidency of Mrs. Mercedes Monmany. The jury of The Gabarron International Award of Literatue 2011 met in Valladolid, Spain, on July 1, 2011. Members of the jury include: Mr. Carlos Aganzo, CEO of El Norte de Castilla; Mrs. Mercedes Monmany, literary critic and writer; Mr. Guillermo Rodríguez Martín, CEO of Casa de la India; Mr. José Miguel Santiago Castelo, ABC Editorial Advisory Board Chairman; Mr. Josep-Manuel Silva Alcalde, Management Advisor for RTVE and Mrs. Margarita Enríquez Campesino, Regional Director for Radio Nacional en Castilla y Leon

Biography


Carlos Fuentes, Mexico’s most celebrated novelist and critic, was born in 1928. He spent his early years in Washington, D. C., where his father was a member of the diplomatic corps.

Fifteen novels by Mr. Fuentes have been published in the United States: “The Death of Artemio Cruz”, “The Good Conscience”, “Where the Air is Clear”; “A Change of Skin”, “Aura”, “Terra Nostra”, “The Hydra Head”, “Distante Relations”, “The Old Gringo”, a national bestseller in 1985, which was also made into a movie; “Christopher Unborn”, a bestseller in 1989; “The Campaign” in 1991, “Diana: the Goddes Who Hunts Alone” in 1995, “The Crystal Frontier” in 1997; “The Years With Laura Diaz”, 2000; and, in 2002, “Inez”.

Among Mr. Fuentes’s other work, “Burnt Water”, a collection of short stories, appeared in 1980; “Myself with Others: Selected Essays”, in 1988, “Constancia and Other Stories for Virgins”, in 1990; “The Orange Tree”, in 1994; and, in 1996, “A New Time for Mexico”, a work of political commentary.

In 1978, Mr. Fuentes was awarded the Romulo Gallegoz Prize in Caracas, Venezuela. He was the third writer to receive the award; earlier winners were Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel García Márquez. In 1984, Mr. Fuentes was honored with the National Prize in Literature, Mexico’s highest literary award. Three years later, he received the Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious award bestowed on a Spanish-language writer, conferred by King Juan Carlos of Spain.

Mr. Fuentes writes for many European magazines, and his work has appeared in “The Nation”, “Vanity Fair”, “The New York Times”, “The new York Times Book Review”, “The Los Angeles Times Book Review”, and “The Washigton Post Book World”.

Mexico ambassador to France in 1975-77, in 1986 Mr. Fuentes was the Simon Bolivar Professor at Cambridge University and inaugurated the Robert F. Kennedy Chair in Latin American Studies at Harvard in 1988. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, El Colegio Nacional in Mexico, and, most recently, at Princeton, Darmouth, Washington University, Harvard, Cornell and Brown, where he is professor at large. Mr. Fuentes helped to produce and narrate a television series on the history of Spanish culture, “The Buried Mirror”, which was also published as an illustrated book.


Read More about the novelist : www.carlos-fuentes.net