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Luis García Montero: Poetry as a Witness to the World and its Universal Connection

BTN News: Luis García Montero, a distinguished poet from Granada, Spain, whose work has long reflected a deep and enduring appreciation for Mexico, was honored this Tuesday in Mexico City with the prestigious Carlos Fuentes Award for Literary Creation. This recognition, a testament to his lifelong contribution to literature, comes as a significant addition to the Recognition for Excellence he received from the Mexican Chamber of Deputies earlier this year. Montero’s connection to Mexico is profound, evident not only in his writings but also in his personal experiences and worldviews. This award ceremony, held at the historic Palacio de Bellas Artes, highlights the reciprocal affection between Montero and the Mexican literary community, cementing his place as a beloved figure on both sides of the Atlantic.

The jury for this year’s Carlos Fuentes Award, comprising eminent literary figures like Elena Poniatowska, Élmer Mendoza, Rosa Montero, Beatriz Espejo, and Fernando Fernández, praised García Montero for his remarkable ability to transform personal experiences into collective human reflections. His work, they noted, mirrors the civic and cultural consciousness that Carlos Fuentes championed throughout his career. During the award presentation, Marina Núñez Bespalova, a representative of the Mexican government’s cultural department, emphasized the shared commitment between Montero and Fuentes to their environments and the communities they lived in, stressing that both writers continuously pondered the social landscapes they inhabited.

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The award, which includes a $125,000 cash prize, a diploma, and a sculpture by the late Vicente Rojo, recognizes Montero’s contributions to literature that transcend the individual and speak to a broader human experience. Montero, a disciple of literary giants like Antonio Machado and Luis Cernuda, first made his mark on the Spanish literary scene in the 1980s with what was sometimes dismissively termed “poetry of experience.” Yet, his verse, exemplified by lines such as “Tú me llamas, amor, yo cojo un taxi / cruzo la desmedida realidad / de febrero por verte,” resonated deeply with readers for its simplicity, accessibility, and ability to capture the essence of everyday life in a language that felt both personal and universal.

His 1994 collection, Habitaciones separadas (Separate Rooms), marked a defining moment in his career, earning him the prestigious Loewe Prize, under the chairmanship of Mexican poet Octavio Paz, and the National Poetry Prize the following year. This collection not only solidified his status as one of Spain’s leading contemporary poets but also established a thematic and stylistic kinship with Carlos Fuentes. In En esto creo (This I Believe), Fuentes voiced concerns about the world’s loss of witnesses, a sentiment echoed in Montero’s poetry, which often grapples with the continuity of life, community, and civic duty.

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In his acceptance speech, titled “Testigo del mundo” (Witness of the World), García Montero reflected on his role as a poet in post-war Granada, where he felt a deep responsibility to bear witness to the world that had silenced Federico García Lorca. He remarked, “This award is, above all, a recognition of poetry, this literary form that allows us to be witnesses of the world from within the intimate human experience.” Montero’s work, while primarily celebrated for its poetic excellence, also spans successful forays into narrative and essay writing, including works such as Mañana no será lo que Dios quiera (Tomorrow Will Not Be What God Wants) and Un lector llamado Federico García Lorca (A Reader Called Federico García Lorca).

During the ceremony, Montero shared light-hearted moments with Silvia Lemus, the widow of Carlos Fuentes, who arrived late due to traffic, and dedicated part of his speech to his late wife, the novelist Almudena Grandes, and his friend, the late Mexican journalist Cristina Pacheco. He highlighted the enduring dialogue between his and Grandes’ works, underscoring how their shared political commitment and mutual love intertwined poetry, politics, and personal intimacy in their lives, centering on the defense of language and human dignity.

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Montero also invoked Fuentes’ reflection on the universal nature of language, quoting, “Words are the first and natural instance of common property…,” and added, “To feel ownership of words like freedom, equality, justice, and fraternity, which are mine because they belong to everyone, is inseparable from my poetic vocation.” This vocation, especially in his current role as director of the Instituto Cervantes, is dedicated to fostering the Spanish language as a bridge between continents, not a barrier.

Concluding his speech with a reading of his poem Un idioma (A Language), Montero expressed his gratitude to the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and the Mexican Secretariat of Culture for the honor. His final words, “More constant than hatred and greed, stronger than resentment and prisons, more heroic than the dream of an army, more flexible than the sea, have been the words,” resonated as a powerful testament to the enduring strength of language and its role in shaping human connection.

This award places García Montero in a lineage of literary greats, reinforcing the deep cultural ties between Spain and Latin America, and highlights the universal power of poetry to transcend borders and speak to the shared human experience.

Bright Times News Desk
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