He was unanimously nominated by the jury because of ” his lyrical work of undeniable quality and cultural dialogue between the civilizations of the East and the West. In addition, his poetic work shares the bicultural character of that of Joan Margarit ».
Adonis, winner of this second edition, was born in Syria in 1930. However, he built his entire literary career in Lebanon, where he won the National Poetry Prize in 1974. At just 24 years old, he spent eleven months in prison, accused of fraudulent activities.
Shortly after, he founded the magazine Shi’ir (Poetry), which marked the beginning of his work and whose creative intensity has been rewarded with numerous awards. The most recent and prestigious were awarded to him in 2011: the Goethe Prize, rewarding his entire career, and Els Premis International Terenci Moix. Five years later, he received the Sting Dagerman in 2016 and the PEN/Nabokov in 2017.
His repertoire includes notable works of contemporary Arabic poetry, such as Songs of Mihyiar the Damascus (1961); Book of Metamorphoses and Migration in the Provinces of Day and Night (1965) ; Tomb for New York. Prologue to the History of the Taifa (1971) / Time between ashes and roses (1970); and his monumental collection divided into three volumes The Book (1995, 1998, 2002). In addition, he is an expert in Arabic poetry and literature, as evidenced by his essays in the field of poetry and poetics: Introduction to Arabic Poetry (1971), Arabic Poetics (1985) and Sufism and Surrealism (2016).
Adonis is considered one of the pioneers of modern Arabic poetry. His work draws on sources from world literature and reflects his commitment to human rights. This is why he has been considered several times as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
For its part, the jury of the Joan Margarit International Poetry Prize received this year more than thirty applications from poets from all over the world, with long and internationally recognized careers and unanimously awarded the price to Adonis due to “his lyrical work of undeniable quality and cultural dialogue between the civilizations of the East and the West. In addition, his poetic work shares the bicultural character of that of Joan Margarit ».
Following the news, the Syrian poet said: “It is an honour to receive this award for two reasons; the first is that it is held in Spain, a creative and diverse land, in homage to the great poet Joan Margarit and because it contributes, as was his desire, to building bridges between different cultures. »
The 2024 Joan Margarit International Poetry Prize award ceremony will take place next fall. The Cama Sol publishing house will publish the speech that the winner will give at the event, as well as translations into Spanish, French and English. It will be a limited edition, which will include poems and works of art, which will be given away to those involved in the celebration.
Joan Margarit International Poetry Prize The annual prize rewards the work of foreign poets with a consolidated career on an international scale and responds to Joan Margarit’s desire to promote preferred foreign poets in his two languages, Catalan and Spanish. Indeed, during his career he translated, among others, works by Thomas Hardy, Rainer Maria Rilke and Elizabeth Bishop.
Its jury was composed of Javier Santiso, founder of the publishing house Cama Sol; Luis García Montero, director of the Cervantes Institute and poet; Héctor Abad Faciolince, writer; Ana Santos, former director of the National Library of Spain, where the legacy of Joan Margarit is located, and Monica Margarit, daughter of the poet.
Photo credits: Adonis DR
