<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Cervantes Institute has awarded this year's Ñ Prize to Maria Delgado, a Spanish-British critic and professor of Theatre and Film Arts at the University of London, in recognition of her work in promoting and disseminating the Spanish language internationally.</strong></h4> King Felipe VI will present the award to the researcher at the next annual meeting of the Institute's Board of Trustees, to be held next December, as reported this Thursday by the Spanish cultural diplomacy institution. The statuette, a bronze sculpture bearing the Cervantes Institute's logo, is inspired by the letter ñ, a characteristic symbol of the Spanish language. The Ñ Prize was created in 2021, as part of the thirtieth anniversary celebrations of the Cervantes Institute, to recognize the achievements of individuals (natural or legal persons, public or private) who, while not native Spanish speakers, have distinguished themselves through their work in promoting and disseminating the Spanish language internationally. The annual award consists of a bronze sculpture bearing the Cervantes Institute logo, inspired by the letter ñ, a characteristic symbol of the Spanish language. To date, the prize has been awarded to Barbara Fuchs, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (USA), translator, and founder of an initiative for the study of the Spanish Golden Age (2021); and Gabriele Morelli (Campofilone, Italy, 1937), Hispanist, philologist, and professor at the University of Bergamo, specializing in the Generation of '27 and the avant-garde movements (2022). The Hispanist Dieter Ingenshay (Isum, Germany, 1948), a leading promoter of Spanish culture in Germany (2023); and the South Korean Hispanist and philologist Park Chul, the first translator of Don Quixote into Korean (2024). María Delgado was born and raised in England to Spanish parents. Her father was one of the Basque children who arrived in England in May 1937. She is Professor of Theatre and Film Arts at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, where she also serves as Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange. She has published extensively on theatre and film in Spanish and Catalan. Her 20 books (as author and co-editor) include <em>Federico García Lorca</em> (Routledge, 2008), <em>Spanish Cinema 1973-2010: Auteurism, Politics, Landscape and Memory</em> (Manchester University Press, 2013), <em>“Otro” teatro español</em> (Iberoamericana/Vervuert, 2017), and <em>Staging Difficult Pasts: Transnational Memory, Theatres and Museums</em> (Routledge, 2024). She has extensive experience working with the creative industries of film and theatre, including her role as a programming advisor and member of the selection committee for the BFI London Film Festival since 1997, as well as an advisor to the London Spanish Film Festival. She was an advisor for the British Film Institute's Pedro Almodóvar retrospective in 2016 and an ambassador for the Almodóvar retrospective series at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2024. She has conducted over 500 public interviews with actors, directors, and writers. She is also an honorary fellow at the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies at the London School of Advanced Study and has been a visiting professor at several international universities, including Stockholm University, UC Davis, and the City University of New York (holding the Mercè Rodoreda Chair). Delgado has received numerous awards for her research and promotion of Spanish and Catalan culture. These include the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2002), the Cross of the Order of Alfonso X the Wise (2016), and the Ramon Llull Foundation Prize for the international promotion of Catalan culture (2018). She was elected a member of the Academia Europaea in 2015, a corresponding academician of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in 2024 and an honorary member of Rose Bruford College, also in 2024.
