Leonard Padura: winner of 2015 Princess of Asturias Award for Literature

Fifty-nine-year-old Cuban-born writer, Leonardo Padura was declared the winner of the 2015 Princess of Asturias Award for Literature on Wednesday.

The jury for the award highlighted his "interest in listening to popular voices and the lost stories of others," while saying his work represented "a superb adventure of dialogue and freedom."

"He is a decidedly contemporary author rooted in tradition; an investigator of both what is considered cultured and what is considered popular; an independent intellectual, with a firm ethical temperament," declared the jury in their resolution which saw Padura chosen out of 27 candidates.

Padura was born in Cuba in 1955 but became a Spanish citizen in 2011 and is known as a journalist and novelist whose best known books describe the adventures of world-weary detective Mario Conde.

The Princess of Asturias Awards, which aim to reward: "the scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanitarian work carried out at an international level by individuals, institutions or groups of individuals or institutions," are the most prestigious in Spain.

The winners receive a certificate, a 50,000 euro cash prize (around 56,500 U.S. dollars) and a statue by artist Joan Miro, which are presented at a ceremony in the city of Oviedo in October.

This is the sixth award issued out of eight different categories: arts, social sciences, sport, concord, literature, international cooperation, technical and scientific research, and communications and humanities.

So far, the 2015 winners are Pau and Marc Gasol for sports; Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, scientific investigation; Emilio Lledo, humanities; Esther Duflo, social sciences; and Francis Ford Coppola, arts. Endit