Antònia Vicens i Picornell wins prestigious Catalan literary award

Mallorcan writer Antònia Vicens i Picornell has won the 54^th Premi d’Honor de les Lletres Catalanes (Honorary Prize of Catalan Letters,) awarded by pro-independence civil society organization Òmnium Cultural.

The €20,000 prize goes to "literary or scientific work in the Catalan language" that has "contributed in a remarkable and continuous way to the cultural life of the Catalan Countries."

  

The jury awarded Vicens i Picornell for "the solidity of her literary career and her innovative research in narrative voices" as well as "her commitment to the language and her activism," praising her for "not hiding her feminist and environmental ideals" during the Francoist dictatorship. 

Òmnium, headed up until recently by formerly imprisoned independence leader Jordi Cuixart, also believes she created a voice that is in "in constant experimentation" and that younger generations can relate to.

Current president Xavier Antich described the writer as a lover of words and highlighted the importance of what he called the complete nation and the fight for one's ideals. He also lamented that she is one of only 8 women to have won the award in its 54-year history. 

Vicens i Picornell, meanwhile, said she was "excited and overwhelmed" by the news and congratulated both Cuixart for his "resistance and dignity" as well as Antich for his new post.  

Born in Santanyí, Mallorca in 1941, Vicens i Picornell is the author of novels, short stories, and poems including '39º a l'ombra' (39º in the shade) or 'Lovely' for which she has already received Catalonia's highest civil distinction, the Creu de Sant Jordi (Sant George's Cross) in 1999, as well as the Catalan government's National Culture award in 2016. Her most recent poetry collection, 'Pare què fem amb la mare morta' (Father what do we do with our dead mother?), was published in 2021. 

She was also the acting president of Catalan Language Association of Writers and was the group's vice president from 1997 to 2004. 

The awards ceremony will take place in early June in a location agreed on by the awardee and Òmnium.