On the occasion of its 90th anniversary, and in recognition of the poet Pedro Salinas - its first secretary general - the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) has created the annual Pedro Salinas Poetry Award to acknowledge Spanish-language poets who, by virtue of their trajectory and dedication, become an inspiration for future generations.
The award is granted by the Governing Council, at the proposal of the Rector. It consists of a reproduction of a symbolic object and a diploma issued by the Rector.
The prize-winner is expected to teach a poetry workshop at the corresponding edition of the Santander Summer Courses.
2024 Award: Luis García Montero
Luis García Montero (Granada, 1958) is a poet, essayist, and Professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Granada. His books of poems include Y ahora ya eres dueño del Puente de Brooklyn (1980), Tristia (in collaboration with Álvaro Salvador, 1982, Hiperión 1989), El jardín extranjero (1983, Hiperión 1989), Diario cómplice (Hiperión, 1987), Las flores del frío (Hiperión, 1991), Habitaciones separadas (Visor, 1994), Completamente viernes (Tusquets, 1998), La intimidad de la serpiente (Tusquets, 2003), Vista cansada (Visor, 2008), Un invierno propio (Visor, 2011), Balada en la muerte de la poesía (Visor, 2016) and A puerta cerrada (2017), No puedes ser así. Breve historia del mundo (Visor, 2021) and Un año y tres meses (Tusquets, 2022).
He is also the author of several books of essays and has received a multitude of awards such as the Adonáis Prize in 1982 for El jardín extranjero, the Loewe Poetry Prize in 1993 and the National Poetry Prize in 1994 for Habitaciones separadas. In 2003, with La intimidad de la serpiente, he won the Premio Nacional de la Crítica. Since 2018 he is director of the Instituto Cervantes.
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2023 Award: Olvido García Valdés
Olvido García Valdés (Santianes de Pravia, Asturias, 1950) is a poet, essayist and translator. She is a professor of Literature, graduated in Romance Philology from the University of Oviedo, and in Philosophy from the University of Valladolid. She was also director of the Cervantes Institute in Toulouse and general director of the Book and Reading Promotion.
Among others, she has received the 2021 Pablo Neruda Ibero-American Poetry Prize, the 2016 Asturias Literature Prize, and the 2007 National Poetry Prize for her book Y todos erabamos vivos (Tusquets, Barcelona, 2006, 2007). Her books have been translated into French, English, Italian, Polish and Swedish; Similarly, her poems have appeared in German, Portuguese, Romanian, Greek, Serbian, Arabic, and Chinese.
2022 Award: Ana Rossetti
Ana Rossetti (San Fernando, Cádiz, 1950), a playwright, poet and writer who revolutionized the Spanish literary landscape in the 1980s, is one of the finest poets of contemporary Spanish poetry. Author of books of poetry such as Los devaneos de Erato (1980), Devocionario (1985) and Punto umbrío (1996), she has created an oeuvre rich in registers and genres. Although she is most known for her poetry, she has also written plays, a libretto for an opera, novels, children's books and short stories.
