MEXICO CITY – Spanish-born poet Ramon Xirau and Uruguayan writer Ida Vitale were honored in the ninth edition of the Octavio Paz International Poetry and Essay Prize, the jury told Efe in a statement.

“Both figures, each from their own exile and rootlessness, have contributed to the renovation of our language and its literature. They are two different voices, but they are united in their practice and defense of both freedom and common language in poetry,” the jury said.

The award recognizes “two lives intensely devoted to the discipline of thought and writing, to the construction of a poetic and critical language whose aim is to make the world more livable and restore its meaning,” it added.

The jury was made up of Mexican writer Adolfo Castañon, his compatriots and fellow poets Malva Flores and Sergio Mondragon and Cuban poet and scholar Enrico Mario Santi.

Xirau, a prolific poet and philosopher, was born in Barcelona on Jan. 20, 1924, and went into exile in France as a result of the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War, although he relocated to Mexico a year later.

His best known works include “De ideas y no ideas” (Of Ideas and Non-Ideas), “El tiempo vivido” (Time Lived), “Entre la poesia y el conocimiento” (Between Poetry and Knowledge), “Sentido de presencia” (Sense of Presence) and “Antologia Personal” (Personal Anthology).

Vitale, who took refuge in Mexico City after a military junta came to power in her homeland in 1973, is the author of poetry collections such as “La luz de esta memoria” (Light of this Memory) and “Reduccion del infinito” (Reduction of the Infinite) and works of prose including “Un invierno equivocado” (Mistaken Winter) and “Donde vuela el camaleon” (Where the Chameleon Flies).

Her works have been published in Uruguay, Venezuela, Mexico, the United States and Spain. EFE