Exploring Spanish Literature

 Isabel Allende is a Chilean-American writer known for her use of magical realism in novels. She is most famous for writing "The House of the Spirits" and "City of the Beasts." She was born in Lima, the capital of Peru in 1942. She is so special because she is considered one of the first successful female novelists of Latin America.  Her story helped empower other women to write and publish their work. When she was young, she worked as a journalist in Chile but then was forced to flee to Venezuela due to the assassination Salvador Allende, who is her second cousin and a socialist politician. Her first novel evolved from a letter she wrote to her sick grandfather and was titled " La Casa de Los Espirítus " (The House of Spirits). Throughout many of her novels like Eva Luna or El Plan Infinito, she overlaps realistic fiction with fantasy and magic. She analyzes the roles women play in Latin American society. She also earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom ...

 My father used to read me books in Spanish as a child before bed, which inspired me to research some Spanish writers who had published Children's books. Gloria Fuertes, born in 1917, was one of the first women to pop up on my quick google search. She was from Madrid and was known for her Spanish poetry, children's books, and frequent appearances in various television shows. Her mother was a seamstress/maid and her father was a beadle. She started writing stories of her own at just the age of 5! Translated into English, her most famous pieces are titled: " Prayer", "I Write Poetry, Gentlemen!", and "Now." In the 1940s and 50s, her works were beginning to be published in magazines, books, and newspapers targeted towards younger audiences. With other women and strong poets, she founded "Verses in Skirts"in 1951. Verses in Skirts was group of writers who organized concerts, poetry readings at local places throughout their community, and even...

 I have been so busy, so I have been unable to post for a couple of months, but one poet I recently stumbled upon is Carlos Castro Saavedra. He was born 1924 in Medellín, Colombia and died at only 64 years of age. One of his most famous pieces is titled Amistad, meaning friendship in English. He describes friendship as "un mano que un otro mano apoya su fatiga, y siente que el cansancio se mitiga y el camino se vuelve más humano." In English, this most directly mean "a hand that another hand supports your fatigue, and you feel that the tiredness is mitigated and the path returns more human-like." I was curious as to what inspired Castro to write a poem about friendship, so I also found some things about his personal life. He is also commonly known as "the poet of peace." He attended the University of Antioquia and started writing and publishing poems at a very young age. His first book was published in 1946 and titled "Fusiles y Luceros" meaning ...

 As I explored the famous monuments and buildings of Valencia and re-united with many family members in the small town outside of Valencia Benetússer this summer, I was inspired to dig deeper into the roots of Valencian literature. All roots of my family remain in Valencia, making me intrigued to learn more about the history. One famous individual who stood out was Ausiàs March, a famous medieval knight and poet born in Valencia during the 15th century. He was deeply associated with "Siglo de Oro Valenciano", meaning the Valencian Golden Age. The Golden Age began when Isabelle and Ferdinand got married, which united the kingdoms of Aragon and Castille. It was a time of economic prosperity,  expansion in trade and artistic motivations. Not only did this era contribute to the fame of March, but also all of his poetry was written in Catalan, a dialect of the Spanish language.  When he was young, he fought as a Knight in towns throughout Italy, eventually getting his inspirat...

 A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed a professor at my school named Mr Hayden. I got the opportunity  to ask questions and hear about his language background and personal story. My Hayden is the director of languages at the Bishops School. I have had him for Spanish in 9th grade and Latin this year. Here are some questions I asked, and here are some summaries of his answers. I find it neat to discover the personal stories of different people.    His personal story/advice (in summary):  -His family does not speak any other language than English -his father studied some languages but only spoke english  -grew up in Southern California so many Spanish speaking neighbors -college/high school: studied Spanish, but major was anthropology/anthropology with music -year abroad in India: spent time in hill stations and studied Hindi at a language school as an undergraduate, but more focused on music and anthropology -his wife is from Mexico, so he felt this urge to ...

  As I said in my previous post, today I am going to be reading the famous poem "Río Grande de Loíza" in both Spanish and English and discuss the poems meaning and literal details. There is not a clear direct title for this, but it is similar to the The Great River of Loíza. For some context, Loíza is a small town in Puerto Rico known for its rich African culture. In the 1500's Western Africans were brought over to this town and today it is known for the great culture, entertainment, and rich history of reflecting West Africa. This poem is an ode that uses the soul and in depth imagery of a beautiful river to spread awareness for the beauty and liveliness of Puerto Rico. Her use of the word soul brings forth this sense of longing and lack of meaning. She dives into every detail of that river, thus it is clear she is search for true meaning. There is also a sense of nostalgia and memories she brings to the piece, where the river becomes a symbol for her resilience and deep...

 Julia de Burgos is a very well known Puerto Rican poet who advocated for the independence movement of Puerto Rico. Her writings and poetry supported her civil rights activism including feminism.  She grew up as one of 13 children in Carolina, Puerto Rico. She received her college degree at University of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Some of her most famous pieces are "Poema en Veinte Surcos" (Poem in Twenty Furrows) and "Canción de la Verdad Sencilla" (Song of the Simple Truth). In her poetry, she often refers to Puerto Rico's past encounters with imperialism, so I was curious and did some research on Puerto Rican history. Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus of Spain in 1493, the indigenous group living there were called the Taínos. They lived in villages across Puerto Rico for many years, and their encounter with the Spanish ultimately led to their extinction. The Spanish were thrilled with the large amounts of gold found in the rivers, so the name chang...

 I recently read "Casa Dividida"by Chris Mercer in school, where I learned a lot more about the Cuban Revolution and the conflicts regarding communism. There were two perspectives in the book, one young girl who grows up poor and working tirelessly on a farm and living in a small shack. The other was a boy who came from a wealthy family and lived in a mansion in Havana. Through the Cuban Revolution, the goal was the balance out the severely high wealth gap, and have a more communist society. The changes made in Cuba after the war, like the nationalization of private businesses or better healthcare for the poor  are shown through two different viewpoints, making the book more universal and less biased. This made me wonder about the negative and positive results of the war, and the values that the government prioritized. Liberty and freedom of speech/expression was not a priority. In fact, government officials prosecuted or jailed those who expressed a controversial view on the...

 Born in the capital city of Uruguay, Fernanda Trias is known for her short stories and the novels "La Azotea"(The Rooftop), "La Ciudad Invencible" (The Invincible City), and "Mugre Rosa" (Pink Slime). Two of these novels have been published in English; Trias was also known to be a translator. She conducted creative writing classes and studied creative writing at NYU, she merged her culture background with her passions and academic goals, even the New York Times declared Pink Slime one of the top ten best books in 2020. She is a well traveled woman who has lived in New York, London, Montevideo, Berlin, Provins, and all around Latin America. Currently, she is living in Colombia while pursuing her interests for both teaching and writing. She received the Uruguayan Literature Prize in 2002 and the BankBoston Foundation Prize for National Culture in 2006. In my next post, I will be reviewing and discussing one of her short stories once I read it!  Sources: Sim...