Manuel Álvarez Ortega facts for kids

Manuel Álvarez Ortega (born in Córdoba on March 4, 1923 – died in Madrid on June 14, 2014) was a Spanish poet, translator, writer, and veterinarian. He was known for his beautiful poems and for translating many important books from other languages into Spanish. He also started and led a magazine called Aglae from 1949 to 1954. Manuel lived and wrote many of his works in Madrid, where he moved in 1951.

About Manuel Álvarez Ortega

Manuel Álvarez Ortega was born in Córdoba, Spain, on March 4, 1923. He was the fifth child in his family. He started school in 1935 and later studied at the Veterinary School in Córdoba, which was part of the University of Seville.

In 1951, Manuel became a veterinarian for the military in Madrid. But he loved writing more than anything! So, in 1972, he decided to leave his job as a veterinarian to focus completely on literature. Manuel passed away on June 14, 2014, when he was 91 years old. His brother, Rafael Álvarez Ortega, was also a painter and a poet.

Manuel's Journey in Literature

Manuel Álvarez Ortega began his writing career early. In 1948, he self-published his first book of poems, called La huella de las cosas. A year later, in 1949, he launched his own literary magazine, Aglae. This magazine helped share new poems and writings.

Manuel continued to publish many books of poetry, like Clamor de todo espacio and Hombre de otro tiempo. In 1954, his book Exilio was a finalist for a special award called the Adonais Prize. He also helped start a book series called Palabra y Tiempo with other famous writers.

One of Manuel's biggest talents was translating. In 1960, he started translating poems from French into Spanish. He translated works by many famous French poets, including René Char, Paul Éluard, and Guillaume Apollinaire. He even won the National Translation Prize in 1967 for his book Poesía francesa contemporánea, which was a collection of translated French poems.

Throughout his life, Manuel published many more poetry books, such as Dios de un día, Invención de la muerte, and Carpe diem. His work was recognized, and he was even nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001 and 2003! His last two poetry books were Cenizas son los días (2010) and Ultima necat (2012).

The Manuel Álvarez Ortega Foundation

After Manuel Álvarez Ortega passed away, a special foundation was created in November 2015, just as he wished. It's called the Manuel Álvarez Ortega Foundation. Its main goal is to keep, study, and share all of Manuel's important papers, books, pictures, and letters.

In 2021, the foundation's collection was given to the University of Córdoba. This collection includes many of Manuel's letters and even some of his writings that had never been published before!

Poetry

• La huella de las cosas (Imprenta Ibérica, Córdoba, 1948)
• Clamor de todo espacio (Aglae, Córdoba, 1950)
• Hombre de otro tiempo (Aglae, Córdoba, 1954)
• Exilio (Adonais, Madrid, 1955)
• Dios de un día / Tiempo en el Sur (Taurus, Madrid, 1962)
• Invención de la muerte (Adonais, Madrid, 1964)
• Despedida en el tiempo (Pájaro Cascabel, México-Madrid, 1967)
• Oscura marea (Librería El Guadalhorce, Málaga, 1968)
• Oficio de los días / Reino memorable (Arbolé, Madrid, 1969)
• Carpen diem (Provincia, León, 1972)
• Antología 1941–1971 (Plaza y Janés, Barcelona, 1972)
• Tenebrae (Cuadernos hispanoamericanos - Instituto de Cultura Hispánica, Madrid 1973)
• Génesis (Visor, Madrid, 1975)
• Fiel infiel (Provincia, León, 1977)
• Escrito en el Sur (Premios Literarios Ciudad de Irún, San Sebastián, 1979)
• Templo de la mortalidad (Fundación Rielo, Madrid, 1982)
• Sea la sombra (Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos - Cooperación Iberoamericana, Madrid, 1984)
• Lilia Culpa (Antorcha de Paja, Córdoba, 1984)
• Gesta (Devenir, Barcelona, 1988)
• Código (Devenir, Madrid, 1990)
• Liturgia (Devenir, Madrid, 1993)
• Obra Poética (1941.1991) (Edición no venal, Madrid, 1993)
• Clautro del día (Antelia, Madrid, 1996)
• Corpora Terrae (Antelia, Madrid, 1998)
• Desde otra edad (Devenir, Madrid, 2002)
• Égloga de un tiempo perdido (Antelia, Madrid, 2003)
• Despedida en el tiempo (1941–2001) Antología poética. (Huerga y Fierro, Madrid, 2004)
• Visitación (Antelia, Madrid, 2005)
• Obra poética (1941–2005) (Visor, Madrid, 2006)
• Antología Poética (2041–2005) (Devenir, Madrid, 2007)
• Adviento (Antelia, Madrid, 2007)
• Mantia Fidelis (Huerga y Fierro, Madrid, 2008)
• Cenizas son los días (Devenir, Madrid, 2010)
• Ultima necat (Abada, Madrid, 2012)

Essay

• Intratexto (Devenir, Madrid, 1997)
• Diálogo (Devenir, Madrid, 2013)

Theater

• Fábula de la dama y los alpinistas (Antelia, Madrid, 2008)
• La travesía (Un sueño, o no) (Antelia, Madrid, 2009)

Recordings

• Génesis. Texto íntegro en la voz del autor. Book and cassette (Ediciones portuguesas, Valladolid, 1992)

Anthologies

• Poesía belga contemporánea. With other translators (Aguilar, Madrid, 1964)
• Poesía francesa contemporánea (Taurus, Madrid 1967; 2nd ed. Akal, Madrid, 1983)
• Poesía simbolista francesa (Editora Nacional, Madrid, 1975; 2nd ed. Akal, Madrid, 1984)
• Veinte poetas franceses del siglo veinte (Devenir, Madrid, 2001)

Translations

• Crónica (by Saint-John Perse, Poesía Española, 95, Madrid, 1960)
• Salmos (by Patrice de la Tour du Pin, Plaza y Janés, Barcelona, 1972)
• Antología poética (by Apollinaire, Visor, Madrid, 1973)
• Estelas (by Victor Segalen, Visor, Madrid, 1974)
• El amor, la poesía (by Paul Éluard, Visor, Madrid, 1975)
• Poemas (by Jules Laforgue, Plaza y Janés, Barcelona, 1975)
• Pájaros y otros poemas (by Saint-John Perse, Visor, Madrid, 1976)
• Poemas. 2 Vols. (by André Breton, Visor, Madrid, 1978)
• El gran juego (by Benjamin Péret, Visor, Madrid, 1978)
• Antología (by Alfred Jarry, Visor, Madrid, 1982)
• Obra Completa (by Lautréamont, Akal, Madrid, 1988)
• Sinfonías/Salmos (by O.V. de L. Milosz, Antelia, Madrid, 2004)
• Cántico del conocimiento (by O.V de L. Milosz, Antelia, Madrid, 2005)
• Antología poética (by O.V. de L. Milosz, Devenir, Madrid, 2008)

Translations of His Works

• Poemas / Poems. English version by Louis Bourne (Antelia, Madrid, 2002)
• Genèse / Domaine de l'ombre. French version by Jacques Ancet (Le Taillis Pré, Châtelineau, 2012)Poussières d'étoiles
• Hieren Todas: Antología poética plurilingüe. Multilingual anthology. Edition and epilogue by Guillermo Aguirre, Prologue by Rosa Pereda (Devenir, Madrid, 2022).

Books About His Works

• Multiple authors. A Manuel Álvarez Ortega. Dedicatoria (Devenir, Madrid, 1998).
• Asunción Córdoba: Fábula muerta. En torno al universo simbólico en la poesía de Manuel Álvarez Ortega (Devenir, Madrid, 2008). [Originally presented as a doctoral thesis, Universidad de Alicante (1991), with the title: Fábula muerta: el universo simbólico de Álvarez Ortega]
• Ruiz Soriano, Francisco. La poesía de Manuel Álvarez Ortega (Devenir, Madrid, 2013). [Published previously by Antelia, Madrid, 2009]
• Ruiz Soriano, Francisco. Aglae (1949–1953) de Manuel Álvarez Ortega, una revista de postguerra (Huerga y Fierro, Madrid, 2016)
• Sánchez Dueñas, Blas (ed.). Manuel Álvarez Ortega y su tiempo (Devenir, Madrid, 2018)
• Alarcón Sierra, Rafael (ed.). La poética de la modernidad y la obra de Manuel Álvarez Ortega (Devenir, Madrid, 2019)
• Torralbo Caballero, Juan de Dios (ed.). Manuel Álvarez Ortega. Traducción poética, lucidez, crítica social y denuncia (Devenir, Madrid, 2020)

Awards and Recognition

Manuel Álvarez Ortega received several important awards and recognitions for his literary work:

• 1963: Runner-up for the Premio Adonáis de Poesía for his book Invención de la muerte.
• 1967: Won the National Translation Prize (Premio Nacional de Traducción) for his collection Poesía francesa contemporánea.
• 1976: Won the IV Bienal de Poesía de la Provincia de León prize for Fiel Infiel.
• 1978: Won the Ciudad de Irún prize for Escrito en el Sur.
• 1981: Won the I Premio de Poesía Mística de la Fundación Fernando Rielo for Templo de mortalidad.
• 1999: Received the Premio de las Letras de Córdoba.
• 2001 and 2003: His name was put forward for the Nobel Prize in Literature and accepted by the Swedish Academy.
• 2007: Awarded the Gold Medal of Andalusia (Medalla de Oro de Andalucía) by the Government of Andalusia.

See also

Learn more about Manuel Álvarez Ortega!

In Spanish: Manuel Álvarez Ortega para niños