Xavier Villaurrutia Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 6 (1963) Winner
Elena Garro
エレナ・ガロ
Elena Garro
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1916-12-11 （Puebla, Mexico）
- Died
- 1998-08-22 （Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico） age 81
- Nationality
- Mexican
- Languages
- Spanish
- Residence History
- Puebla (birth) → Mexico City (raised / main residence) → Iguala, Guerrero (lived temporarily in childhood) → Cuernavaca, Morelos (died)
Career
- Occupations
- novelist, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, short story writer
- Active Years
- 1937-1998
- Influenced By
- Albert Camus, Jean Genet, Eugène Ionesco, Georges Schéhadé, Juan Rulfo
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso | — | — | — | — | Mexico |
| National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) | — | Studies in literature, choreography and theater | — | — | Mexico |
Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso
Country:
Mexico
Reportedly finished studies here around age 12; exact graduation year unknown.
National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
Studies in literature, choreography and theater
Country:
Mexico
While at UNAM she participated in a theater group and pursued theatrical studies.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize | Busca mi esquela & Primer amor (First Love & Look for My Obituary: Two Novellas) | — | — | 受賞 |
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize
1996
Work:
Busca mi esquela & Primer amor (First Love & Look for My Obituary: Two Novellas)
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
-
Edition 4 (1996) Winner
Works
Major Works
Los recuerdos del porvenir (Recollections of Things to Come)
1963 Novel / often discussed in relation to Magical RealismSet in a provincial Mexican town, the novel interweaves memory, time, history and personal perspective. It mixes poetic prose with elements often read as magical, exploring communal memory and individual suffering.
memorytimehistory and violencecommunity
Translations
- Translated into English as Recollections of Things to Come by Ruth L. C. Simms
Un hogar sólido
1958 Short stories / collectionEarly short story collection combining poetic language with blends of reality and fantasy.
poetic everydaynessintersection of fantasy and reality
Busca mi esquela & Primer amor (First Love & Look for My Obituary)
1998 Two novellasA volume of two novellas dealing with memory, love and loss; known as the work that won the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize in 1996.
love and lossnarratives of memory
Bibliography
- Los recuerdos del porvenir (1963)
- Un hogar sólido (1958)
- La semana de colores (1964)
- Andamos huyendo Lola (1980)
- Testimonios sobre Mariana (1981)
- Reencuentro de personajes (1982)
- La casa junto al río (1983)
- Y Matarazo no llamó... (1991)
- Un traje rojo para un duelo (1996)
- Un corazón en un bote de basura (1996)
- Busca mi esquela & Primer amor (1998)
- Mi hermanita Magdalena (1998)
- Memorias de España 1937 (Memoirs of the 1937 trip to Spain, 1992)
Translations of Works
- Los recuerdos del porvenir → translated into English as Recollections of Things to Come
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- poetic, condensed prosefusion of fantastical elements and reality (often linked to Magical Realism, though she rejected the label)influences of surrealism and absurdism
- Recurring Motifs
- memory and forgettingnonlinear timecommunity history and violencefemale perspectives
Legacy
Considered a significant 20th-century Mexican writer. Although often associated with the Latin American Boom and discussions of Magical Realism, she rejected that label; her work has at times been underappreciated but has seen renewed critical reassessment.
Quotes
-
(On her marriage) "filled with forbiddance, resentments, and rancour for not making each other happy."
Source: Reported by Milenio (quoted) (2022)
Trivia
- Married to writer Octavio Paz in 1937; divorced in 1959.
- Early works such as Los recuerdos del porvenir are often discussed in relation to Magical Realism, a label Garro rejected.
- Won the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize in 1996.