Mexico's essayist and novelist Sergio Pitol received the 2005 Cervantes Prize, Spain's highest literary honor, from the hands of the Spanish King Juan Carlos on Friday.

At the ceremony, Pitol, 73, recalled how literature had marked his life from his childhood, while the king praised Pitol's "lucid literary trail... which had enriched our common language," saying that the work "seduces us with its truthfulness."

Pitol's well-known titles include "Flower Games", "The Parade of Love" and "The Married Life."

Spainish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Minister of Culture Carmen Calvo, her Mexican counterpart Sari Bermudez, and other Spanish royals were present at the ceremony.

The Cervantes prize, an annual award named for the 16th-century Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, carries 90,000 euros (111,000 U.S. dollars). It was awarded to Pitol's compatriots Octavio Paz, in 1981, and Carlos Fuentes, in 1978.

Source: Xinhua