Argentine poet wins literature prize

Argentine poet Juan Gelman, who wrote about the pain of loss under his country's military juntas, has won the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's top literary award.

The $133,000 award was announced Thursday by Spanish Culture Minister Cesar Antonio Molina.

Gelman, 77, has published more than 20 books of poetry since 1956, and is widely considered to be Argentina's leading contemporary poet. His poems address his Jewish heritage, family, Argentina and his painful experience as a political activist during his country's 1976-83 "dirty war" against leftist dissent, an ordeal that led to his fleeing Argentina for Europe.

Gelman's son and daughter-in-law vanished as part of the crackdown during Argentina's military dictatorship. In 2001, he managed to track down a granddaughter who was born in captivity and adopted by a military family from Uruguay.

Victor Garcia de la Concha, president of the Spanish Royal Academy and a member of the Cervantes jury, said Gelman's work "toys with the musicality and rhythm of words" while showing a strong social and political commitment.

"He has been committed to poetry since he was a young man," said Molina, the minister. "He has poetry in his bones."

Gelman's works include "The Game We're Playing" and "Under Someone Else's Rain." In 2000, Gelman also received one of the most important literary awards in the Spanish-speaking world, the Juan Rulfo Award.

Last year's Cervantes Prize was awarded to Spanish poet Antonio Gamoneda. Previous winners include Jorge Luis Borges of Argentina, the Peruvian-born novelist Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes of Mexico.