Almuerzo ofrecido por SS.MM. los Reyes a una representación del Mundo de las Letras

Link to the news article: https://www.casareal.es/ES/Actividade... King Felipe and Queen Letizia presided over a luncheon at the Royal Palace of Madrid in honor of Mexican writer Gonzalo Celorio, winner of the 2025 Miguel de Cervantes Prize for Literature in the Spanish Language. This meeting took place before the award ceremony, which will be held in the Paraninfo of the University of Alcalá. Celorio is the fifth writer to receive this prize since it was first awarded to Jorge Guillén in 1976. Upon their arrival at the Royal Palace, Their Majesties the King and Queen were received by María Dolores Menéndez, manager of the Board of Directors of the National Heritage. Next, in the Gasparini Room, King Felipe and Queen Letizia were greeted by the 2025 Cervantes Prize winner, Gonzalo Celorio, accompanied by several members of his family. Following this meeting, a photograph was taken with the laureate and his family. The King and Queen then greeted the guests attending the luncheon, among whom were authorities, academics, publishers, and representatives from the cultural world, ranging from cultural promoters such as a small bookstore in Salamanca, to young writers like Elisa Fernández Guzmán, winner of the 2025 Miguel Hernández National Young Poetry Prize, and organizations such as the young Segovian publishing house "La Uña Rota." Also in attendance were the winners of the two previous editions of the Cervantes Prize: Luis Mateo Díez (2023) and the Nicaraguan writer Sergio Ramírez (2017). Later, King Felipe and Queen Letizia proceeded to the State Dining Room of the Royal Palace, where they took their places at the table with the guests. At the start of the luncheon, His Majesty the King delivered a speech, in which he emphasized that “Gonzalo Celorio celebrates the Spanish language, to which he has dedicated his life in almost every possible facet: as a storyteller, as a teacher, as an academic, as an essayist, as an editor. (…) This great mirror of our language—a mirror with the soul of a kaleidoscope, as in Borges's stories—opens us to infinite opportunities for knowledge and creation. It produces an imaginary world that does not exclude, that does not separate, that does not inhibit difference, but rather the opposite: that includes us all and enriches us all.” Miguel de Cervantes Prize The Miguel de Cervantes Prize for Literature in the Spanish Language, awarded by the Ministry of Culture and endowed with 125,000 euros, annually recognizes the career of an author whose work has decisively contributed to enriching the Hispanic literary legacy. In its 2025 edition, the jury decided to award the prize to Gonzalo Celorio for his exceptional literary work and intellectual contributions, which have profoundly and consistently enriched the Hispanic language and culture. Gonzalo Celorio A novelist, essayist, and chronicler, Gonzalo Celorio was born in Mexico City in 1948 and is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Mexican literature. He holds a doctorate in Hispanic Language and Literature from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and has enjoyed a long and distinguished academic and teaching career, holding various cultural and university positions. He is a full member of the Mexican Academy of Language, an institution he directed from 2019 to 2023, and a corresponding member of the Royal Spanish Academy and the Cuban Academy of Language. Among his most acclaimed works are the novels "Self-Love," "The Sedentary Journey," "And Let the Earth Tremble in Its Centers," "Metal and Slag," and "Memory Gossip Corners," as well as the essays "The Underlines Are Mine" and "Subversive Canons." Throughout his career, he has received numerous literary and cultural awards in the Hispanic world. He is the seventh Mexican writer to receive the award, following Octavio Paz (1981), Carlos Fuentes (1987), Sergio Pitol (2005), José Emilio Pacheco (2009), Elena Poniatowska (2013), and Fernando del Paso (2015).