The Diplomat
The Instituto Cervantes has launched the Ñ Award, which honors outstanding personalities for their work in the international dissemination of the Spanish language and which in its first edition has gone to Barbara Fuchs, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and a specialist in the Spanish Golden Age.
According to the Instituto Cervantes, the Ñ Award “may be awarded to individuals or legal entities, public or private, who have promoted the Spanish language in the world or have a track record of special dedication to its international promotion”. The new honorary distinction has come into being within the framework of the thirtieth anniversary of the birth of the Instituto Cervantes (March 1991) as an institution for the dissemination of Spanish and the culture of Spanish-speaking countries. The choice of Barbara Fuchs – from among three candidates proposed by the director of the institution, Luis García Montero – was approved during the meeting of the Cervantes Board of Directors held on May 19.
The first award will be presented to Professor Fuchs by King Philip VI, in his capacity as honorary president of the Instituto Cervantes Board of Trustees, during the next annual meeting of the trustees, to be held, as usual, in October. The award consists of a bronze sculpture with the Instituto Cervantes logo, inspired by the letter eñe, characteristic of the Spanish language. In addition, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will take advantage of his upcoming official trip to the United States, which begins on July 20, to hand her the diploma of the award on July 22 at UCLA.
Barbara Fuchs is professor of Spanish and English at UCLA, where she has also been director of the Center for 17th and 18th Century Studies and the Clark Memorial Library. She previously taught at the University of Washington and the University of Pennsylvania. She has been awarded numerous postdoctoral fellowships, including from the Guggenheim and Andrew W. Mellon Foundations. In 2014, she founded the Diversifying the Classics Project, an initiative that aims to foster knowledge of and interest in the Spanish Golden Age and provide theater professionals with the materials and tools to explore its rich tradition.
Fuchs is the author of numerous books, co-editor of works such as The Golden Age of Spanish Drama (2018), and an English translator of plays. She has published multiple articles on European literature and culture in the Modern Age. She was editor of Hispanic Review (2007-2009) and, since 2017, she has been series editor of The Comedia in Translation and Performance.
