Adonis, proposed as a candidate for the Princess of Asturias Awards

In mid-March, Casa Árabe presented the candidacy of the poet Adonis for the Princess of Asturias Award in Letters, because it believes that he possesses sufficient merits to be bestowed with this noteworthy prize.

Adonis is acclaimed worldwide as a poet, essayist, philosopher and theorist of Arab poetics, and is considered by many to be the best living Arab poet. He has had over 20 books of poetry published in Arabic and has written more than 20 essays on poetry, literature and sociocultural topics.

His verses can be read on every continent because his work has been translated into more than 15 languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Croatian, English, German, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Kurdish, Macedonian, Malay, Norwegian, Farsi, Portuguese, Polish, Turkish and Swedish.

In the Arab world, he is considered to be the great force for renewal in contemporary Arab poetry. His great level of activity soon led him to become one of the main models in Arab culture, always active in cultural forums and the most important media in Arab countries, as well as a large number of Western and far Eastern countries.
 
Born in Syria, he has spent his career mainly in Lebanon and France, and his own life path illustrates how enriching dialogue can become between East and West. His defense of human rights, advocating non-violence in all political and social battles, has made him an admirable citizen, as well as a universal poet.