Editing Miguel Delibes (section)

=== Literary apogee ===
[[File:Miguel Delibes (década de 1960) - 4.tif|thumb|Miguel Delibes in the 1960s in his "refuge" of [[Valle de Sedano|Sedano]] ([[Province of Burgos|Burgos]]).]]
The 1960s represented the heyday of Delibes' literary career. The period was marked by the birth of his sixth son, Adolfo (later a graduate in biology) and a visit to Germany, where he visited several universities. The literary period opened with the publication of ''Viejas historias de Castilla la Vieja'' (Old Tales of Old Castile) in 1960, and'' Por esos mundos'' (In these worlds) in 1961.<ref name = "p. 33" >Dirección General del Libro y Bibliotecas (Ministerio de Cultura) ''Miguel Delibes: Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas 1991'', p. 33.</ref> In 1962, Delibes published ''Las ratas'' (The Rats), one of his masterpieces. It constructs a story from a series of autobiographical anecdotes which evoke the rural environment of a Castilian village that has disappeared. The book won the ''Premio de la Crítica'' (Critics Award for Castilian fiction).<ref name="p. 33" /> In the same year Camino, the last of his seven children, would be born. Camino later graduated in Philosophy and Letters. Also in that year, the film version of ''El camino'', directed by [[Ana Mariscal]], was shot. 1963 was a turbulent year: Delibes resigned on June 8 as director of ''El Norte de Castilla'' after several disagreements with [[Manuel Fraga]], Minister of Information and Tourism.<ref name="p. 33" /> In 1964, he spent six months in the United States as a visiting professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature of the [[University of Maryland]]. After his return, he wrote and published ''[[Five Hours with Mario|Cinco horas con Mario]]'' (Five Hours with Mario), which is considered his masterpiece. The novel is the monologue of a woman who holds a wake for her late husband while she recounts the memories of him. Other books published upon his return from the US included ''USA y yo'' (The United States and I) and ''La milana''. In the following years he visited [[Czechoslovakia]] and published ''Parábola del náufrago'' (literally: The Parable of the Castaway, translated into English as ''The Hedge'' by [[Frances M. Lopez-Morillas]]).<ref name="p. 37">Dirección General del Libro y Bibliotecas (Ministerio de Cultura) ''Miguel Delibes: Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas 1991'', p. 37.</ref><ref>''The hedge'', Miguel Delibes, translated from the Spanish by Frances M. Lopez-Morillas, New York, Columbia University Press, 1983</ref> Later in the 1970s, he followed up with several books about hunting, an activity about which he was passionate, and stories. Subsequently, he published ''Un año de mi vida'' (A Year of my Life), a personal diary.

On 1 February 1973, Miguel Delibes was elected to the [[Royal Spanish Academy]], occupying chair "e", which was left vacant after the death of Julio Guillén.<ref name="rae"/><ref name = "p. 39">Dirección General del Libro y Bibliotecas (Ministerio de Cultura) ''Miguel Delibes: Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas 1991'', p. 39.</ref> That same year, in December, he was also elected to the [[Hispanic Society of America]]. Before the end of the year, he published'' El príncipe destronado'' (The dethroned prince), his eleventh novel.<ref name="p. 40">Dirección General del Libro y Bibliotecas (Ministerio de Cultura) ''Miguel Delibes: Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas 1991'', p. 40.</ref> On 22 November 1974 his wife, Angela de Castro, died at the age of 50. Her death profoundly marked the writer for the rest of his life.

Finally, on 25 May 1975, he delivered his inaugural address to the Royal Spanish Academy. [[Damaso Alonso]], one of the leading members of the [[Generation of '27]] and then president of the Royal Spanish Academy handed the academic medal to Miguel Delibes<ref name="rae" /><ref name="p. 40" /> His induction speech, which dealt with ''The meaning of progress from my work,'' which he later edited into a book entitled ''Un mundo que agoniza'' (A world that is agonizing). That same year, his twelfth novel ''Las guerras de nuestros antepasados'' (The Wars of our Ancestors<ref>''The wars of our Ancestors'', Miguel Delibes, translated from the Spanish by Agnes Moncy, University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, 1992</ref>) saw the light. In the next three years, he published several books on hunting and his only book about fishing,'' Mis amigas las truchas'' (My Friends the Trout). This time period closed with the publication of ''El disputado voto del señor Cayo'' (The Disputed Vote of Mr. Cayo), his thirteenth novel.<ref name="p. 42">Dirección General del Libro y Bibliotecas (Ministerio de Cultura) ''Miguel Delibes: Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas 1991'', p. 42.</ref> In 1979, the stage adaptation of ''Five Hours with Mario'' premiered in Spain starring the leading actress of Valladolid, Lola Herrera. Due to its success, the play was revived several times. That year, he released ''Castilla, lo castellano, los castellanos'' (Castile, Castilian Culture, the Castilians), a narrative anthology.<ref name="p. 42" />