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Sergio Oiarzabal, the Basque poet who won the prestigious National Poetry Prize Miguel Hernández Foundation in 2003 with his acclaimed work "Flammis Acribus Addictis" (published in 2005), died unexpectedly on Saturday June 12th at his home in Bilbao. He was 36. He is survived by his parents and two brothers.

Despite his young age, Oiarzabal had received a great number of prizes, awards and public recognitions for his literary work, which was quite influenced, according to the experts, by the French Surrealism and the Generation of ''27 movements. He became one of the most significant figures of his generation in the world of Basque poetry written in Spanish. Under the concept of "violent poetry", understood as a passionate, impetuous, and fiery poetry, Oiarzabal published "Delicatessen Underground: Bilbao Ametsak" in 2009. The book was highly praised by critics and public, becoming one of the best-selling poetry books in Spain in 2009.

Generous with his time, Oiarzabal wrote avidly for various newspapers and magazines specialized on culture, leisure and literature and also gave public lectures on poetry. He combined his love for writing with his passion for teaching Spanish Language and Literature, a linguistic degree earned from the University of Deusto, Bilbao. Recently, he had lectured at the University of Constanta, Romania.

Oiarzabal was an active member of the Bizkaian Artistic Association and the June 29th Platform, which pays tribute to Bilbao poet Blas de Otero. Oiarzabal was also embarked in a project to uncover the forgotten figure of Juan Larrea, one of the greatest poets of Bilbao.

In an interview published posthumously, the young author stated, "only when I write I speak out... my best poem is the one I haven''t written yet." His closest friends remember Sergio Oiarzabal for his passion, sympathy and deep humanity. He will be terrible missed.

You may leave your condolences at the June 29th Platform blog as well as the blog set up by colleagues in memoriam of Sergio Oiarzabal.