FIL Award

Ida Vitale (left) receiving the award in 2018.

The FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages (Premio FIL de Literatura en Lenguas Romances, previously the Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature) is awarded to writers of any genre of literature (poetry, novels, plays, short stories and literary essays) working in one of the Romance languages: Spanish, Catalan, Galician, French, Occitan, Italian, Romanian or Portuguese. Endowed with US$150,000, it is given to a writer in recognition to all their work, making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world.[1]

It was created in 1991 to acknowledge, in the beginning, writers of literature from Latin America or the Caribbean. It is organized by Mexico's National Council for Culture and Arts, the University of Guadalajara, the government of the state of Jalisco, and the Fondo de Cultura Económica and was originally named in honor of writer Juan Rulfo, a native of Sayula, Jalisco. It is awarded during the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL).

In 2005, the Rulfo family requested that the name be removed from association with the prize, given that it had become "the spoils of small groups that sought only to benefit their own interests". As a result, beginning in 2006, the award was renamed the FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages.[2][3]

Prize winners

Year Author Nationality
1991 Nicanor Parra Chile
1992 Juan José Arreola Mexico
1993 Eliseo Diego Cuba
1994 Julio Ramón Ribeyro Peru
1995 Nélida Piñon Brazil
1996 Augusto Monterroso Guatemala
1997 Juan Marsé Spain
1998 Olga Orozco Argentina
1999 Sergio Pitol Mexico
2000 Juan Gelman Argentina
2001 Juan García Ponce Mexico
2002 Cintio Vitier Cuba
2003 Rubem Fonseca Brazil
2004 Juan Goytisolo Spain
2005 Tomás Segovia Spain-Mexico
2006 Carlos Monsiváis Mexico
2007 Fernando del Paso Mexico
2008 António Lobo Antunes Portugal
2009 Rafael Cadenas Venezuela
2010 Margo Glantz Mexico
2011 Fernando Vallejo Colombia
2012 Alfredo Bryce Echenique Peru
2013 Yves Bonnefoy France
2014 Claudio Magris Italy
2015 Enrique Vila-Matas[4] Spain
2016 Norman Manea Romania
2017 Emmanuel Carrère France
2018 Ida Vitale Uruguay
2019 David Huerta[5] Mexico
2020 Lídia Jorge Portugal
2021 Diamela Eltit Chile
2022 Mircea Cărtărescu Romania
2024 Mia Couto Mozambique

References

  1. ^ Convocatoria 2012[permanent dead link‍]; acceso 18 April 2012
  2. ^ Avilés, Jaime (25 November 2005). "La familia de Rulfo retira el nombre del premio emblemático de la FIL". La Jornada. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  3. ^ Gutiérrez, Vicente (14 April 2017). "Familia blinda a su Rulfo". El Economista. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Spain's Vila-Matas to receive Mexican literary prize". Fox News. September 8, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  5. ^ "El poeta mexicano David Huerta gana el premio FIL de Literatura" [Mexican poet David Huerta wins the FIL Prize for Literature], El Pais (in Spanish), Sep 2, 2019, retrieved Sep 8, 2019