The jury unanimously decided to award the prize to Santiago Auserón in recognition of his contribution to literature. It paid particular attention to sung verse, “with a strong international reach and popular appeal, as well as for his valuable contributions of a philosophical and musical nature”.
The Aragonese Letters Prize aims to honor individuals, institutions or organizations from Aragon whose sustained work or exceptional prominence and importance in the areas of literary creation and research serves as an exemplary model and testament for Aragonese society. The ceremony will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Crown Hall of the Pignatelli Building.
A BENCHMARK OF POPULAR CULTURE
Santiago Auserón is a benchmark of popular culture through music and poetry. He is an artist, scholar and teacher, two lesser-known facets of his career. The singer has also published several books that are benchmarks in the cultural world and champion cultural mestizaje. The award opens the prize to diversity, to a broad view of literature and to sung verse as a collection of poems.
Also known as Juan Perro, Santiago Auserón (Zaragoza, July 25, 1954) is a singer, composer, writer and philosopher. In 2011, he received the National Award for Current Music, and in 2022 he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts, both granted by the Ministry of Culture. He is an Adopted Son of the city of Zaragoza and has also received the Cálamo ‘Otra mirada 2012’ Prize for his work ‘El ritmo perdido’, awarded by Zaragoza bookstore Cálamo.
He studied Philosophy (1972-1977) at the Complutense University of Madrid and later attended (1977-1978) the Université ParisVIII (known as the Centre Universitaire de Vincennes), under the direction of Gilles Deleuze.
FOCUSED ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND PHILOSOPHY
On October 5, 2015, at the age of 61, he earned a doctorate in Philosophy with the highest grade from the Faculty of Philosophy at the Complutense University of Madrid, defending his thesis “Música en los fundamentos del lógos”, a study of ancient Greek music and the origins of philosophy.
Auserón has focused much of his interest as a researcher on the relationship between philosophy and music, a subject to which he has devoted several publications, including “La imagen sonora” (Episteme, 1998) and “El ritmo perdido” (Península, 2012).
RADIO FUTURA AND SOLO CAREER
He founded and led the band Radio Futura from 1979 to 1992, achieving a successful career with the group. The band was one of the defining groups of the Madrid Movida and continues to be regarded as one of the best Spanish rock groups of all time.
In 1993, he began his solo career as Juan Perro, experimenting with a wide range of styles as a performer and producer, including Cuban son, African music, classic 1950s rock and jazz.
Since 1997, he has published articles on music, art and thought in newspapers and specialist magazines. He has given lectures on new popular music in the Basque Country and Madrid, as well as lectures on philosophical and musical topics at universities in Madrid, Granada and Valencia.
