Pilar Paz Pasamar facts for kids
Pilar Paz Pasamar (born February 13, 1932 – died March 7, 2019) was a famous Spanish poet and writer. Her amazing work has been translated into many languages, like Italian, Arabic, French, English, and Chinese.
She was part of a special group of poets from the 1950s in Cádiz, Spain. Since 1963, she was also a member of the Royal Hispanic-American Academy of Cádiz. Pilar Paz Pasamar received many awards for her writing. These include a prize for her poem "Los buenos días" in 1954. She was also named an "Adoptive Daughter" of Cádiz in 2005. In 2015, she was honored as the "Author of the Year" by the Andalusian Center of Letters. Today, her hometown gives out the Pilar Paz Pasamar Prize each year for short stories and poems written by women.
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Early life
Pilar Paz Pasamar was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, on February 13, 1932. Her father, Arturo Paz Varela, was an army captain. Her mother, Pilar Pasamar Mingote, was from Zaragoza. She used to be a singer but stopped when she married Arturo. Pilar had three siblings: Mercedes, Arturo, and Jorge Antonio.
After the Spanish Civil War, her family moved to Madrid. The girls went to a school run by the Carmelites. But the family often spent holidays in southern Spain. Here, Pilar's love for poetry grew. She was inspired by traditional songs from Lower Andalusia. She also loved the songs she heard on the radio. Her mother taught her to recite poems from a book called Las mil mejores poesías (The Thousand Best Poems).
Career
Becoming a writer (1940s-1956)
Between 1947 and 1948, Pilar wrote a "poetic corner" for a newspaper called Ayer de Jerez. Her early poems were similar to those by famous writers like Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer and Juan Ramón Jiménez. She made friends with other writers in Jerez, especially José Manuel Caballero Bonald. He became her first mentor, helping her connect with writers in Madrid.
In 1950, Pilar joined a group that published a magazine called Platero. This group included writers like Fernando Quiñones. They even traveled to Córdoba in 1951 to meet other poets. Platero magazine published works by very famous Spanish poets.
In 1952, Pilar started studying at the Complutense University of Madrid. She studied with important literary figures like Dámaso Alonso. Even though she didn't finish her degree, she learned a lot.
Between 1951 and 1956, she published three books that made her a celebrated young poet. These were Mara (1951), Los buenos días (1954), and Ablativo amor (1955). Los buenos días won second prize in a major poetry competition.
Pilar also became friends with other female poets like Carmen Conde Abellán and Gloria Fuertes. Carmen Conde often included Pilar's poems in her collections. Pilar's books Del abreviado mar (1957) and Violencia inmóvil (1967) were published in a special collection called "Agora."
During these years, Pilar was also very interested in theater. At university, she met students who were part of the Spanish University Theater group. With them, she helped put on a play based on William Shakespeare's The Tempest in 1954. She also wrote a comedy called El Desván with José María Rodríguez Méndez.
Family and continued writing (1957-1967)
Pilar left the university when she met Carlos Redondo Huertos. They got married in 1957 and moved to Cádiz. This was also when her fourth poetry book, Del abreviado mar, was published. Its title was a tribute to a famous poet, Luis de Góngora.
For the next few years, Pilar focused on her family. Her four children were born in Cádiz: Pilar (1958), Mercedes (1960), María Eugenia (1963), and Arturo (1967). Even with a busy family life, she published La soledad contigo in 1960. In 1963, she gave a speech at the Royal Hispanic-American Academy. In this speech, she talked about the important role of a poet.
In 1967, she published Violencia inmóvil. Many people thought these were her best poems yet.
Later works (From 1982)
After a break, Pilar Paz Pasamar returned to writing in 1982. She published La torre de Babel y otros asuntos. This book was written after a difficult time in her life. It used the Tower of Babel as a symbol for challenges and the power of words. This marked her return as a poet.
Pilar slowly reconnected with the literary world. She became part of new movements in Andalusian literature and the growing number of female writers in the 1980s. In 1986, her work appeared in an important collection called La alacena.
The 1990s were a time of growth for her. In 1990, Textos lapidarios was published. She also wrote two books of short stories: Historias balnearias y otras (1999) and Historias bélicas (2004). She wrote a column for the newspaper Diario de Cádiz called "La Hache intercalada." Her poetry books Philomena (1994) and Sophía (2003) were highlights of her lyrical work.
Final years
Her last poetry book was Los niños interiores (2008). She also published Marinera en tierra adentro in 2013. Pilar Paz Pasamar passed away in Cádiz on March 7, 2019.
Selected works
Poetry
- Mara, Madrid, Impr. Altamira, 1951.
- Los buenos días, Madrid, Rialp, Col. Adonais, 1954.
- Ablativo amor, Barcelona, Atzavara, 1955.
- Del abreviado mar, Madrid, Col. Ágora, 1957.
- La soledad, contigo, Arcos de la Fra. (Cádiz), Col. Alcaraván, 1960.
- Violencia inmóvil, Madrid, Col. Ágora, 1963.
- La torre de Babel y otros asuntos, Cádiz, Col. Torre Tavira, 1982.
- La alacena, selection by José Ramón Ripoll, Jerez, Diputación de Cádiz, Col. Arenal, 1986.
- Philomena, Sevilla, Fundación El Monte, 1994.
- Opera lecta, selection by Manuel Francisco Reina, Madrid, Visor, 2001.
- Sophía, Sevilla, Ed. Distrito del Sur & Ayuntamiento de Sevilla, col. Ángaro, 2003.
- El río que no cesa, selection by the author, Jerez de la Fra. (Cádiz), EH Editores, Col. Hojas de Bohemia nº 10, 2007. Includes a CD with poems read by the author.
- Los niños interiores, Madrid, Calambur, 2008.
- Ave de mí, palabra fugitiva (Poesía 1951-2008), Ed. and study by Ana Sofía Pérez-Bustamante Mourier, Cádiz, Fundación Municipal de Cultura & Diputación Provincial de Cádiz, 2013.
Short stories
- Historias balnearias y otras, Cádiz, Fundación Municipal de Cultura, col. Calembé, 1999.
- Historias bélicas, Sevilla, Algaida, 2004.
- Marinera en tierra adentro, Ed. and notes by María del Mar López-Cabrales, Cádiz, Presea, 2012.
