Inés Arredondo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Inés Arredondo
Inés Arredondo en su departamento en Ciudad de México, mayo de 1989.
Born	March 20, 1928
Died	November 2, 1989  (aged 61)

Inés Camelo Arredondo (born March 20, 1928, in Culiacán, Sinaloa – died November 2, 1989, in Mexico City) was an important Mexican writer. She is known for her unique stories and novels. In 1947, she began studying philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Later, in 1958, she married the writer Tomás Segovia. She received the Xavier Villaurrutia Award in 1979 for her book Río subterráneo.

Life Story of Inés Arredondo

Inés Camelo Arredondo was born into a family that faced financial challenges later on. Her father, Mario Camelo y Vega, was a doctor. Inés was the oldest of nine children. She spent much of her childhood at her grandfather Francisco Arredondo's sugar plantation called "Eldorado."

Early Education and University Years

Between 1936 and 1944, Inés studied at the Colegio Montferrant in Culiacán. This school was run by Spanish nuns. From 1945 to 1946, she continued her studies at the Colegio Aquiles Serdán in Guadalajara.

In 1947, Inés moved to Mexico City. She enrolled at the National Autonomous University of Mexico to study philosophy. She later switched to Hispanic Literature in 1948. She completed her studies in 1950. Her final project was about political and social ideas in Mexican theater from 1900 to 1950.

From 1950 to 1952, she studied drama. In 1953, she took a course in Library Science. During her time at university, she met many people who had left Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Their ideas were different from the strong nationalist feelings common in Mexico then.

During this period, she also discovered new literary styles. These included French existentialism and surrealism. She also learned about the Generation of '27 writers and the works of Juan Rulfo and Juan José Arreola. She lived with classmates who also became famous writers, like Rosario Castellanos and Jaime Sabines. Her teachers included well-known authors such as Julio Torri.

Family Life and Career Beginnings

In 1958, Inés married writer Tomás Segovia. They shared many interests. They had a daughter named Inés. After this, she faced a difficult time when her second child, José, was stillborn.

Between 1952 and 1955, Inés worked at the National Library. Later, she took over Emilio Carballido's position at the School of Fine Arts for Theater. She helped write the Dictionary of Latin American Literature for UNESCO. From 1959 to 1961, she edited the Dictionary of Mexican History and Biographies.

Inés also wrote for radio and television. She worked as a translator, which means she changed texts from one language to another. Her translation work gave her the idea for her first original story, "El membrillo." This story was published in a university magazine in 1957. After that, she kept writing many more works.

Later Life and Achievements

Inés had two more children, Ana and Francisco Segovia. She also worked with her husband on the Mexican Literature Review. Her name was not listed on the review until after they separated. The famous writer Elena Poniatowska said that Inés was an inspiration to many.

In 1961, Inés received a scholarship from the Mexican Center for Writers. In 1962, she received another scholarship from the Fairfield Foundation in New York.

In 1962, Inés and Tomás separated, and she returned to Mexico. Their divorce was finalized in 1965. As a divorced mother, she took on many jobs to support her children. These included:

• Member of the editing team for the Mexican Literature Review until 1965.
• Researcher in the Coordination of the Humanities from 1965 to 1975.
• Guest speaker at Indiana University and Purdue University in 1966.
• Professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) from 1965 to 1968. She taught courses on literature.
• Writer for the "México en la cultura" section of Siempre! magazine from 1965 to 1967.
• Contributor to the University Radio of UNAM from 1965 to 1970.
• Contributor to the Dictionary of Mexican Writers at UNAM in 1967.
• Professor at the School of Theater in the National Institute of Fine Arts from 1965 to 1967.
• Editor in the Department of Information and Press at UNAM from 1965 to 1968.
• Co-writer of the film Mariana with Juan García Ponce in 1967.
• Professor of History of Theater at the Iberoamerican University in 1970.
• Researcher in the Center for Historical Studies of Mexico, CONDUMEX, from 1966 to 1973.

In 1965, she published her first book of short stories, La Señal (The Signal). Short stories became her favorite type of writing. Only Opus 123 (1983) is considered a short novel. She faced health issues with her spinal column. She had five operations and spent many years using a wheelchair. Elena Poniatowska described her as "A bedridden woman with an indomitable spirit."

In 1972, Inés married surgeon Carlos Ruiz Sánchez. She went back to her literary studies. She wrote her master's thesis about the Mexican poet Jorge Cuesta. In 1980, she finished her studies with high honors.

In 1979, she published her second book, Río subterráneo (Underground River). This book won the Xavier Villaurrutia Award and was highly praised. In 1979, the US Library of Congress in Washington, DC recorded three of her stories for a series called Voz Viva de México (Live voice of Mexico).

In 1983, her novel Opus 123 was published. One year later, her children's story Historia Verdadera de una Princesa (True Story of a Princess) came out. In 1988, her last book of short stories, Los espejos (The Mirrors), was published. In the same year, her Obras Completas (Complete Works) was published.

Around her 60th birthday, she received several awards. The most important was an honorary degree from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa on May 27, 1988. In November 1988, a special event celebrating her work was held in Culiacán. Inés spent her last years in bed. She passed away on November 2, 1989, in her apartment in Mexico City.

Inés Arredondo's Literary Works

Inés Arredondo's writing was very important for Mexican literature, especially for women writers. She wrote about topics that were not often discussed before. Her main focus was on family and relationships between partners. Her stories often questioned traditional roles and ideas.

Themes and Influence

Inés Arredondo also worked as a literary critic and essay writer. Her thoughts and ideas were published in many magazines and cultural sections in Mexico. These writings show her as a thoughtful reader and someone who promoted culture. All these texts are now collected in a book called Ensayos, published in 2012. In this book, she shares parts of her own life story. She also includes a deep study of Jorge Cuesta, a key figure in the Contemporáneos (Contemporary) group of writers. Inés Arredondo, like many writers of her time, admired his work.

Arredondo was part of the "Half Century Generation," which includes artists from the 1940s to the mid-1950s. This period was very important for many Mexican artists. She was also part of the "Casa del Lago (The Lake House Group)" and "La Revista Mexicana de Literatura (The Mexican Literature Magazine)." Members of these groups not only created art but also wrote critical reviews. They explored different art forms like theater, cinema, painting, music, poetry, novels, and essays. They also discussed topics that were once not allowed in Mexico.

Awards and Recognition

During her lifetime, Inés Arredondo received four official awards from the Mexican government and the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS).

• In November 1986, she received the “Fray Bernardo de Balbuena” medal. This was the first time this medal was given in Sinaloa's history.
• In March 1987, a special ceremony was held in Culiacán, Mexico, to honor her literary achievements.
• In May 1988, the UAS gave her an honorary doctorate degree.
• In 1988, she received a second tribute for her excellent literary work during the cultural festival of Sinaloa.

About El río subterráneo

Río subterráneo was published in 1979. It is the second of her three storybooks and won the “El Premio Villaurrutia” in 1979. The title means "the underground river." This name suggests the hidden actions and feelings of people in the stories. The book explores ideas from her earlier book, La Señal. These ideas include the presence of evil, the lack of love, strong emotions, and complex relationships. Many of her characters are searching for something important, often through intense relationships.

Collections of Works

• Obras Completas, Mexico: Siglo XXI/DICOFUR, 1988.
• Cuentos completos. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2011.

Books of Short Stories

• La señal. México: Era, 1965 (Colección Alacena).
• Río subterráneo. México: Joaquín Mortiz, 1979 (Col. Nueva Narrativa Hispánica). ISBN: 9789706901682,
• Los Espejos. México: Joaquín Mortiz/Planeta, 1988 (Serie del Volador).

Novels

• Opus 123. México: Oasis, 1983 (Los Libros del Fakir, 23)

Essays

• Acercamiento a Jorge Cuesta. México: SEP/Diana, 1982.
• Ensayos. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2012. ISBN: 9786071609656,

Children's Books

• Historia Verdadera de una Princesa. Cuento para niños. México: CIDCLI/ Secretaría de Educación Pública 1984 (Reloj de Cuentos).

English Translations

• The Underground River and Other Stories. Trans. Cynthia Steele. Lincoln/London: University of Nebraska Press, 1996.
• Margarita Vargas and Juan Bruce Novoa. “The Shunammite.” By Inés Arredondo. Mundus Artium (1985): 36–45.
• Margarita Vargas and Juan Bruce Novoa. “Mariana.” By Inés Arredondo. Fiction (1981): 156–64.

German Translations

• "Die Sunemiterin", traducción por Barbara Kinter, en: Alcántara, Marco (ed.): Frauen in Lateinamerika 2. Erzählungen und Berichte. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1986, pp. 80–91 (dtv, 10522).
• "Sommer", traducción por Erna Pfeiffer, en: Pfeiffer, Erna (ed.): AMORica Latina, Viena: Wiener Frauenverlag, 1991, pp. 55–64.

See also

In Spanish: Inés Arredondo para niños