The
biggest hispanic literary award was given to the
Chilean poet by Juan Carlos, king of Spain. The
ceremony was held at the Alcalá de Henares
University, specially during the International Book
Day.
"Poetry
incarnates in oneself as if by chance, because one
does not deserve it. How could one!". These
are some of the words with wich Gonzalo Rojas (86)
thanked the Cervantes Award given to him by Juan
Carlos, king of Spain. During the ceremony, and
in front of a crowd full of authorities, intelectuals
and professors, the king praised Rojas describing
him as someone who "devours the world with
his insatiable view, and then describes it to us
with a traveller´s enthusiasm". Then
Spain´s biggest authority gave Rojas the medal
and sculpture that credit him as one of the 28 writers
that so far have received Hispanic´s literature
most important award.
The act was organized during the International Book
Day, which was chosen to coincide with the date
of death of three of the world´s biggest writers:
Spain´s Miguel de Cervantes and Garcilaso
de la Vega, and England´s William Shakespeare
(all who passed away in April 23rd, 1616).
"Speeches come and go"
"Hopefully all of those
who shape our Spanish-speaking community could
see the world as highly as Gonzalo Rojas",
said the king about the 86 year old poet´s
work. Comparing Rojas and Cervantes, the monarch
said that both writers "coincide in their
wide, brave and uplifted mood, an example to face
life´s most painful situations".
Juan Carlos de Borbón then added: "he
incarnates the prototype of the poet as searcher,
always asking for all of the things´ senses;
someone who wants to figure out the world´s
significance".
After receiving the Award, the Chilean poet started
his speech saying: "Speeches come and go,
and rarely say something. So I have measured the
pages, and they won´t be more than ten,
all in large font. Cervantes already said everything
in this language about being born and keep on
getting born, about the beautiful plateau and
the last insular landscapes, from the Tropic to
the Antarctica".
The "reniñez"
Gonzalo Rojas visit to Spain
was the perfect excuse to present yet another
jewel, a book valuable for its poems and images.
"La reniñez" registers several
conversations between Rojas and painter Roberto
Matta. The word "reniñez" was
their invention: a concept that goes to describe
the spontaneous, ludic and naive creative act
that comes to those in their golden years.
The book will be edited in Chile next July. It
contains 55 of Rojas´ poems, one of them
("La desabrida") not previously edited.
The twenty Matta drawings also included were a
gift from the painter to his friend.
From the mines to the
world
Gonzalo Rojas was born in
Lebu, on December the 20th, 1917. All of the men
in his family worked as miners. He became a professor
at the Concepción University, and then
moved to live in China. Pinochet´s coup
found him as ambassador in Havana, Cuba. He lived
his exile in Western Germany, the former URSS
and Venezuela. He returned to Chile in 1979 and
went to live to Chillán, from where he
is permanently travelling to Europe and around
America.
Among his books, some of the most important are
"Antología de aire" ("Anthology
of air"), "Contra la muerte" ("Against
death"), "Zumbido" ("Buzzing")
and "Metamorfosis de lo mismo" ("Metamorphosis
of the same"). "Concierto" ("Concert")
will be edited in May.
The Cervantes Award 2003 is one of the three most
important awards ever given to Rojas, who has
also received Chile´s National Literary
Award and the Iberoamerican Poetry Reina Sofía
Award.
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