Antonio Gamoneda was born in Oviedo in 1931. His father was a modernist poet whose career was cut short by his early death. The young Antonio reputedly learned to read during the Spanish Civil War, when schools were closed, by immersing himself in his father’s poems. His own first book, Sublevación inmóvil, published in 1960, was a runner-up for the Adonais Prize. Working with progressive cultural organizations, Gamoneda didn’t publish another book of poems until after the fall of Franco. Then, in 1977, he published the impressive long poem Descripción de la mentira (León, 1977). After that followed Lápidas (Madrid, 1987) and Edad, which won the National Prize for Literature in Spain. In 1992, Libro del frío was published.  An expanded and revised version included Frío de límites, a collaboration with the artist Antoni Tàpies.  Arden las pérdidas was published in 2003 and La luz, a new collected poetry (1947–2004) was published in 2004.  In 2006, Gamoneda was awarded the Reina Sofia Award and the Cervantes Prize, the highest honor in Spanish literature.