The FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages (Premio FIL de Literatura en Lenguas Romances, previously the Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature) is awarded to writers of any genre of literature (poetry, novels, plays, short stories and literary essays) working in one of the Romance languages: Spanish, Catalan, Galician, French, Occitan, Italian, Romanian or Portuguese. Endowed with US$150,000, it is given to a writer in recognition to all their work, making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world.[1]

Ida Vitale (left) receiving the award in 2018.

It was created in 1991 to acknowledge, in the beginning, writers of literature from Latin America or the Caribbean. It is organized by Mexico's National Council for Culture and Arts, the University of Guadalajara, the government of the state of Jalisco, and the Fondo de Cultura Económica and was originally named in honor of writer Juan Rulfo, a native of Sayula, Jalisco. It is awarded during the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL).

In 2005, the Rulfo family requested that the name be removed from association with the prize, given that it had become "the spoils of small groups that sought only to benefit their own interests". As a result, beginning in 2006, the award was renamed the FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages.[2][3]

Prize winners

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YearAuthorNationality
1991Nicanor ParraChile
1992Juan José ArreolaMexico
1993Eliseo DiegoCuba
1994Julio Ramón RibeyroPeru
1995Nélida PiñonBrazil
1996Augusto MonterrosoGuatemala
1997Juan MarséSpain
1998Olga OrozcoArgentina
1999Sergio PitolMexico
2000Juan GelmanArgentina
2001Juan García PonceMexico
2002Cintio VitierCuba
2003Rubem FonsecaBrazil
2004Juan GoytisoloSpain
2005Tomás SegoviaSpain-Mexico
2006Carlos MonsiváisMexico
2007Fernando del PasoMexico
2008António Lobo AntunesPortugal
2009Rafael CadenasVenezuela
2010Margo GlantzMexico
2011Fernando VallejoColombia
2012Alfredo Bryce EcheniquePeru
2013Yves BonnefoyFrance
2014Claudio MagrisItaly
2015Enrique Vila-Matas[4]Spain
2016Norman ManeaRomania
2017Emmanuel CarrèreFrance
2018Ida VitaleUruguay
2019David Huerta[5]Mexico
2020Lídia JorgePortugal
2021Diamela EltitChile
2022Mircea CărtărescuRomania
2023Coral Bracho[6]Mexico
2024Mia CoutoMozambique
2025Amin Maalouf[7]France

References

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  1. Convocatoria 2012[permanent dead link]; acceso 18 April 2012
  2. Avilés, Jaime (25 November 2005). "La familia de Rulfo retira el nombre del premio emblemático de la FIL". La Jornada. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  3. Gutiérrez, Vicente (14 April 2017). "Familia blinda a su Rulfo". El Economista. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  4. "Spain's Vila-Matas to receive Mexican literary prize". Fox News. September 8, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  5. Maldonado, Carlos Salinas (Sep 2, 2019), "El poeta mexicano David Huerta gana el premio FIL de Literatura" [Mexican poet David Huerta wins the FIL Prize for Literature], El Pais (in Spanish), retrieved Sep 8, 2019
  6. Partida, Juan Carlos G. (2023-09-04). "Poeta Coral Bracho recibe Premio FIL de Literatura en Lenguas Romance". La Jornada (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  7. Partida, Juan Carlos G. (2025-09-01). "Amin Maalouf gana el Premio FIL de Literatura en Lenguas Romances" [Amin Maalouf wins the FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages]. La Jornada (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-09-04.
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