MADRID, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan poet Rafael Cadenas was named on Friday as the winner of the 27th Reina Sofia (Queen Sofia) Prize for Iberian-American poetry, the Spanish national patrimony organization (Patrimonio Nacional) and the University of Salamanca confirmed Friday.

The Reina Sofia Prize is considered to be the most prestigious award that exists for poetry written in Spanish or Portuguese and the winner receives a cash prize of 42,100 euros (50,238 U.S. dollars) and an anthology of their work published.

Born in 1930 and considered to be one of the most influential poets of his generation, Cadenas is also an essayist, university professor and translator. He is the first Venezuelan to win the award.

"This prize reflects the collection of work from a writer who lives for the value of his literature, which has made an important contribution to the shared cultural patrimony of Latin America and Spain," read the press communique announcing his nomination.

Cadena's work is considered to be dense and linked to philosophical thought. He succeeds the Nicaraguan writer Claribel Alegria, who won last year's award, only months before her death on Jan. 25 of this year.