Gloria Fuertes
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 collaborated with famous magazines of the time. Her collaboration with magazines led to her rise in popularity. She was then given the opportunity to teach Spanish literature at Bucknell University. Her more mature works often discussed gender roles and Women's rights. She was also a part of the queer community and discussed her struggles with her identity while Franco was dictator of Spain at the time. Under the dictatorship of corrupted Francisco Franco, gender roles were strictly in order and homosexuality was deeply hated. Her poems and stories are influenced also by the Postismo Movement, which was a post civil-war literary movement in Spain which protested against the beliefs of Francisco Franco.
My grandfather came to the United States in order to escape the dictatorship of Francisco Franco and the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939. The difficulties that Fuertes faced under the Spanish government at the time give me a better understanding of the hardships that my grandfather went through himself.
Beadle: a minor parish official whose duties include ushering and preserving order at services and sometimes civil functions.
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