Ángel González | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ángel González Muñiz (1925-09-06)6 September 1925 Oviedo, Spain |
| Died | (2008-01-12)12 January 2008 Madrid, Spain |
| SeatP of theReal Academia Española | |
| In office 23 March 1997 – 12 January 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Julio Caro Baroja |
| Succeeded by | Inés Fernández-Ordóñez |
| Signature | |
.png) | |
Ángel González Muñiz (6 September 1925 – 12 January 2008) was a majorSpanish poet of the twentieth century.
González was born inOviedo. He took a law degree at theUniversity of Oviedo and, in 1950, moved toMadrid to work in Civil Administration. It was in Madrid that he first began to write and publish his poetry, becoming friends with many of the leading Spanish writers who encouraged his work. His first book of poems,Áspero mundo ("Harsh World"), was an immediate critical success. His second book,Grado elemental ("Elementary Grade"), was published inParis and won the prestigiousAntonio Machado Prize for Poetry. He published eight more books of poetry and edited several anthologies and books of literary criticism, including critical editions on the poetry ofJuan Ramón Jiménez andAntonio Machado. Two books have appeared in English translation:Harsh World and Other Poems (Princeton University Press, 1977, translated by Donald Walsh) andAstonishing World: The Selected Poems of Ángel González (Milkweed Editions, 1993, translated bySteven Ford Brown).
He is also the recipient of theAngel María de Lera Hispanism Prize for his contributions to Hispanic Culture from theUniversity of Colorado (U.S.), thePríncipe de Asturias Prize (Spain), theSalerno Poetry Prize (Italy) and the PremioReina Sofía Iberoamericas Prize (Spain). In 1997 he was appointed as the Chair of theReal Academia Española.[1] In 2004, he was awarded the inauguralFederico García Lorca Poetry Prize by the City of Granada. His work is represented in the major anthologies of Spanish poetry of the 20th century, and is also included in the Vintage Book Of Contemporary World Poetry (Random House, 1996). He taught at theUniversity of New Mexico from 1974 to 1994. Before his death in January 2008 inMadrid, he divided his time betweenNew Mexico and Spain.
