Claribel Alegría facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Clara Isabel Alegría Vides
Alegría at the 3rd annual International Poetry Festival in Granada.
Born	(1924-05-12)12 May 1924 Estelí, Nicaragua
Died	25 January 2018(2018-01-25) (aged 93) Managua, Nicaragua
Pen name	Claribel Alegría
Occupation	Poet, novelist
Nationality	Nicaraguan Salvadoran

Clara Isabel Alegría Vides (born May 12, 1924 – died January 25, 2018), also known as Claribel Alegría, was an important writer from Central America. She was a poet, essayist, novelist, and journalist from both Nicaragua and El Salvador. She won the 2006 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, which is a big award for writers.

About Claribel Alegría

Claribel Alegría was born in Estelí, Nicaragua. Her father was Nicaraguan, and her mother was Salvadoran. When she was only nine months old, her father had to leave the country. This was because he spoke out against unfair treatment of people during the United States occupation of Nicaragua.

Because of this, Claribel grew up in Santa Ana, a city in El Salvador where her mother was from. Claribel Alegría always felt connected to both Nicaragua and El Salvador.

Even though she was very young, she started writing poems at age six. She would tell them to her mother, who wrote them down for her. Claribel said that a book called "Letters to a Young Poet" by Rainer Maria Rilke inspired her to become a poet.

When she was seventeen, her first poems were printed in a magazine called Repertorio Americano. Later, she moved to the United States and studied at George Washington University. She believed in peaceful ways to solve problems.

Claribel Alegría supported the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). This group took control of the Nicaraguan government in 1979. In 1985, she went back to Nicaragua to help rebuild the country. She lived in Managua, Nicaragua, until she passed away on January 25, 2018, at 93 years old.

Her Writing Style

Claribel Alegría's writing was part of a popular style in Central America in the 1950s and 1960s. This style was called "la generacion comprometida," which means "the committed generation." Writers in this group often used their words to speak up for people's rights. They were not afraid to criticize society through their art.

Alegría wrote many books of poetry, including Casting Off (2003) and Sorrow (1999). She also wrote novels and stories for children. Sometimes, she worked with her husband, DJ "Bud" Flakoll, on books that shared true stories, like They Won't Take Me Alive.

Awards She Won

Claribel Alegría received several important awards for her writing:

• 1978: The Casa de las Américas prize for her poetry collection Sobrevivo ("I Survive"). She shared this award with Gioconda Belli.
• 2006: The Neustadt International Prize for Literature. This is a very respected award given every two years to a living writer.
• 2017: The XXVI Premio Reina Sofía de Poesía Iberoamericana. This poetry prize was given by the University of Salamanca in Spain.

Her Books

Claribel Alegría wrote many books during her life. Here are some of them:

Books translated into English

• Flowers from the Volcano, translated by Carolyn Forché (1983)
• Luisa in Realityland, translated by Darwin J. Flakoll (1987) ISBN: 0-915306-70-0
• Sorrow, translated by Carolyn Forché (1999) ISBN: 1-880684-63-2
• Soltando Amarras/Casting Off: Poems by Claribel Alegría, translated by Margaret Sayers Peden (2003) ISBN: 1-880684-98-5

In other collections

• Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology (2018) ISBN: 978-0820353159