Eugenio Montejo

CARACAS, Venezuela—Eugenio Montejo, a Venezuelan poet and essayist who won the 2004 Octavio Paz prize, died Thursday. He was 70.

Montejo’s poetry is known for its rich texture and was published in numerous books in Spanish. His work also reached a wider audience thanks to the 2003 film “21 Grams” by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

In one scene, Sean Penn’s character quoted a line from a 1988 poem by Montejo. It reads: “The earth turned to bring us closer. It turned on itself and in us, until it finally brought us together in this dream.”

Burl Plunkett

NORMAN, Okla.—Burl Plunkett, who coached the University of Oklahoma’s women’s basketball team to the National Women’s Invitation Tournament title in 1994 and helped set the program up for its rise to national prominence, died Thursday. He was 75.

Plunkett died at his Valliant home after a long illness, university spokesman Jared Thompson said.

Plunkett went 52-36 in three seasons as the Sooners’ coach, immediately prior to Sherri Coale’s hiring in 1996. He took Oklahoma the NCAA tournamen in 1995.