Mexican writer and journalist Elena Poniatowska, 91 years old, won the Carlos Fuentes International Award for “Literary Creativity in the Spanish Language” 2023, becoming the fourth woman to reach this achievement. This award is awarded by the Mexican Ministry of Culture and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to writers who, through their works, enrich the literary heritage of humanity.
It is in this spirit that Elena Poniatowska is honored for her extensive career and contributions to letters in Spanish, through journalism, records, interviews, and narratives. The laureate’s committee stated that she is meticulous in narrating her texts, using imagination and the testimonies of women and people, as well as modern history, which is her literary capital. She worked as a journalist, recording the events that shook her country, such as the student massacre in 1968 and the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, and the indigenous armed conflict. Elena says: “I am more interested in exploring the way other people live and their lives than in my own life. I can write about my spiritual state, as many do, but I arrived in Mexico when I was 10 years old and my passion was knowledge. Knowing my country and its people always prompted me to ask many questions “.
The international competition jury, consisting of Concepción, Javier Garciadego, Luis Garcia Montero, Rene Acosta and Margo Glantz, said: “Rot Poniatowska Its texts, through testimonies and fiction, capture important moments in the history of modern Mexico.
