The award, one of the most important ones in this genre given by the
Spanish institution Patrimonio Nacional (National Heritage) and the
University of Salamanca, was presented on Monday in that Spanish city. “It
is a prize for poetry, for hope,” wrote the Cuban poet in a message
delivered to the organizers of the gala.

Fina, born on April 28, 1923, has a degree on Social Sciences and she
belonged to the group of Cuban poets and writers of the renowned magazine
‘Origenes’ (1944-1956), along with her late husband Cintio Vitier, Jose
Lezama Lima and Eliseo Diego.

She is one of Cuba’s most outstanding poets of all times. She worked as a
researcher at the Jose Marti National Library and also at the Center of
Studies on the Life and Work of Jose Marti, where she was part of a team
of authors of a critical edition of the Complete Works of the Cuban
national hero. Some of her most important works include ‘Las miradas
perdidas’, ‘Viaje a Nicaragua’ and ‘Créditos de Charlot’. In 1990, she
received the National Prize for Literature.

Some previous winners of the Queen Sophia Prize for Ibero-American Poetry
include Chilean Gonzalo Rojas (1992), Spanish Jose Hierro (1995) and
Francisco Brines (2010), Uruguayan Mario Benedetti (1999) and Argentinean
Juan Gelman (2005).

The award recognizes a living author for the literary value and
contribution of his or her poetical works to the common cultural patrimony
of Ibero-America and Spain.

This year’s jury included personalities such as Brines; Nicolas
Martinez-Fresno, president of Patrimonio Nacional; Daniel Hernandez,
rector of the University of Salamanca; and Jose Manuel Blecua, director of
the Spanish Royal Academy.