A Day of Central American
Literature
Writers Confronting
History and Art
April 12, 1999
TWO EVENTS, OPEN TO
THE PUBLIC
(Sponsored by the Latin
American Studies Committee, Modern Languages, and International Studies)
1) "LITERATURA
Y COMPROMISO SOCIAL EN CENTROAMERICA: PERSPECTIVAS ACTUALES CENTROAMERICANAS
DEL SIGLO XX" A panel discussion with writers Roberto
Sosa, Manlio Arugeta, Mario Roberto Morales, Jacinta Escudos, Juan José
Daltón and Ricardo Roque Baldovinos (This session will be in Spanish)
10-12 AM, Liberal Arts 135
2) Honoring Central
American Literature: Bilingual Readings of prose and poetry of three
remarkable writers: Manlio Argueta, Roberto Sosa and Mario Roberto Morales
7-9 PM, Cline Library Auditorium
(Authors will read texts in Spanish, English readings of texts will be
consecutive)
BRIEF BIOS OF SPEAKERS:
MANLIO ARGUETA
(b. 1935, San Miguel, El Salvador) is Central America's most internationally
known novelist. He has received numerous awards for his poetry and prose,
including the Rubén Darío Prize (Poetry, Nicaragua), the
Casa de las Américas Prize for 1978 (Novel, Cuba), and El Salvador's
National Literary Prize for 1980. He has published six novels, three
of which—Un día en la vida, 1980 (One Day of Life), Cuzcatlán
donde bate la mar del sur, 1986 (Cuzcatlán where the Southern Sea
Beats, and, Caperucita en la zona roja, 1977 (Little Red Riding Hood in
the Red Light District)—have been translated into English. Argueta
lived in exile in Costa Rica for twenty years (1972-1992), during the period
of social upheaval and civil war in his homeland. He currently works
as the Secretary of International Relations at the University of El Salvador.
ROBERTO SOSA (b.
Yoro, Honduras, in 1930) is Honduras' most distinguished living poet. His
poetry collections include: Los pobres (The Poor, 1969), Un mundo dividido
para todos (One World Divided for All, 1971), Secreto militar (Military
Secret, 1984), El llanto de las cosas (The Crying of Things, 1984).
In 1995, his collected poetry was published by Universitaria Centroamericana
in Costa Rica. He currently resides in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where he
participates actively in the cultural life of his country.
MARIO ROBERTO MORALES (b. Guatemala City,
1950) lived in exile during the 70's and 80's in Mexico, Costa Rica, and
Nicaragua. He has written the following novels: Obraje(Works, 1971,
Central American Novel Prize); Los demonios salvajes (The Wild Devils,
1978, Central American Novel Prize); El esplendor de la pirámide
(The Pyramid's Splendor, 1986, Latin American Novel Prize); Señores
bajo los árboles (Face of the Earth, Heart of the Sky, 1994); El
ángel de la retaguardia (Rearguard Angel, 1996); and, Los que se
fueron por la libre (Their Way, 1997). In his works, Morales is concerned
with his country's political conflicts and their relationship to
Guatemala's multicultural society.
JACINTA ESCUDOS
(b. San Salvador, 1961) has published three books: Apuntes de una historia
de amor que no fue (Notes From a Love that Wasn't, 87); Contracorriente
(Against the Current, 1993); and Cuentos sucios (Dirty Stories, 1997).
She currently resides in Managua, Nicaragua. 222
JUAN JOSE DALTON
is a well known Salvadoran journalist. He is a correspondent for
El País (Spain), El Excelsior (México), La Opinión
(Los Angeles), and several Salvadoran publications. His father was
Roque Dalton, El Salvador's most promising poet of the second half of this
century, who was murdered in 1975 by a faction of the Salvadoran
Left.