The Cervantes Prize was presented today to its latest recipient, Mexican writer and journalist Elena Poniatowska. The awards ceremony was held in Alcalá de Henares, the town near Madrid where Cervantes was born. This, the most prestigious literary award in the Spanish language, was created in 1976, one year after the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, and alternates between a Latin American writer and a Spaniard. Unlike the Booker Prize in English, however, the Cervantes Award is for lifetime achievement and is considered the "Nobel prize" for Spanish letters. Each year the candidates are proposed by the Association of Spanish Language Academies and the prize is awarded by Spain's Ministry of Culture, with a generous 125 thousand euro purse. Today is also World Book Day, and at Madrid's Círculo de Bellas Artes literary club the now traditional nonstop reading of Cervantes' entire two-volume work Don Quijote is underway once again. The event began at 18:00 local time on Wednesday, April 23rd and lasts several days. You can follow it live on the CBA website, at: www.circulobellasartes.com/quijote14.php
