Exiled Nicaraguan Poet Gioconda Belli Awarded Prestigious Poetry Prize
We love seeing Latina poets getting their flowers! In past years, we’ve seen Latinas succeeding because of their written work like Natalie Diaz, the first Latina to win a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and Ada Limón, the first Chicana to be named the U
Photo: Smokeonthewater
We love seeing Latina poets getting their flowers! In past years, we’ve seen Latinas succeeding because of their written work like Natalie Diaz, the first Latina to win a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and Ada Limón, the first Chicana to be named the U.S. Poet Laureate. This week, it was announced that Nicaraguan writer Gioconda Belli won the Reina Sofia Ibero-American Poetry Prize. As one of the most famous writers in Latin America, the 77-year-old has an impressive bibliography under her belt including feminist and erotic writing, 15 poetry collections, eight novels, seven essay collections, a memoir, and several children’s stories. Seeing how she has furthered the visibility of women writers in Latin America, it should come as no surprise that she has won this incredibly prestigious prize for Spanish and Portuguese-language poetry, which is awarded jointly by The University of Salamanca and the National Heritage of Spain.
“I couldn’t be happier than to have won this poetry prize,” Belli said in a tweet announcing her win. “I celebrate the enriching of Nicaragua’s poetry tradition. I dedicate it to my Nicaragua, mother of my inspiration, sorrowful country of my hope. Long live poetry!!!”
Belli first began her career as a writer in 1970 when she was only 20 years old, publishing her first poems in the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa. Two years later, she published her debut poetry collection Sobre la grama and won the Premio de Poesía Mariano Fiallos Gil award that same year from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua. Her memoir The Country Under my Skin was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2001 and selected as one of the best books of the year by the publication.
She’s also known for her radical political activism, resisting the dictatorships of Nicaragua’s former President Anastasio Somoza Debayle and later of President Daniel Ortega, who is still in office. As well as including political criticisms and calls to action in her writing, she also joined a liberation front where she transported weapons and traveled to neighboring countries to spread the word about the resistance. After Ortega’s administration stripped Belli of her citizenship in February of this year and seized her land deeming her a “traitor” to her homeland, she fled Nicaragua and currently lives in Spain. She also, along with other Nicaraguans banished by Ortega, accepted asylum in Chile.
In a joint statement, The University of Salamanca and the National Heritage of Spain said of the award, “This recognition highlights the importance of her literary career and acquires an even greater value, considering that the author has been banished from her homeland Nicaragua, and that her country is living a dictatorship.”
Both for her written work and political activism, it’s clear that this prize has been a long time coming for Belli and could not be more deserved.
