Spanish author Juan Goytisolo wins country’s Cervantes top literary prize

MADRID – Popular Spanish author Juan Goytisolo has won the 2014 Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world’s highest literary honour.

Education Minister Jose Ignacio Wert announced the prize Monday, saying he had given the news to Goytisolo in Morocco, where the writer lives.

Goytisolo, 83, is considered one of Spain’s most important writers since the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War. A strong critic of Catholic Spanish society, many of his books deal with life during Spain’s post-war dictatorship and his later exile.

His works include “Marks of Identity”, “Count Julian” and “Juan the Landless”.

The €125,000 ($155,000) prize generally alternates between Spanish and Latin American writers. Last year’s winner was Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska.

The prizes are presented each April 23, the anniversary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes, author of “Don Quixote.”