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Gioconda Belli

ジオコンダ・ベリ

Gioconda Belli

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1948-12-09 （Managua, Nicaragua）
Nationality
Nicaraguan (until 2023), Stateless (2023–2024), Spanish (since 2024), Chilean (since 2025)
Languages
Spanish, English
Residence History
Managua (birth / childhood) → Spain (boarding school / education) → Mexico (exile, c.1975) → Los Angeles (residence) → Madrid (exile / residence, recent years)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Novelist, Author, Journalist
Active Years
1970-
Affiliations
Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), Sandinista renewal movement (anti-Ortega movement)
Influenced By
Ana María Rodas (influence referenced)
Influenced
Generations of Central American and Latin American women writers
Nominations
Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist (The Country Under My Skin)

Education

Royal School of Santa Isabel (Madrid)
Country: Spain
Boarding school graduate
Charles Morris Price School of Advertising and Journalism (Philadelphia)
Advertising and Journalism
Country: United States
Studied advertising and journalism

Awards

Premio de Poesía Mariano Fiallos Gil
1972
Category: 詩
Organization: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua
Result: 受賞
Premio Casa de las Américas
1978
Category: 詩
Organization: Casa de las Américas
Result: 受賞
Anna Seghers Prize
1989
Organization: Academy of Arts (Germany)
Result: 受賞
Premio Biblioteca Breve
2008
Work: Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand
Category: 小説
Organization: Editorial Seix Barral / Premio Biblioteca Breve
Result: 受賞
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Award
2008
Category: 最優秀小説
Organization: Guadalajara International Book Fair
Result: 受賞
Oxfam Novib/PEN Award
2019
Organization: Oxfam Novib / PEN
Result: 受賞（共同受賞）
Honorary Doctorate (University of Edinburgh)
2024
Category: 名誉博士
Organization: University of Edinburgh
Result: 授与
Carlos Fuentes Prize
2025
Organization: Carlos Fuentes Prize organizers
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

La mujer habitada (The Inhabited Woman)

1988 Semi-autobiographical novel / Political fiction

A semi-autobiographical novel that parallels indigenous resistance to Spanish colonization with modern insurgency in Central America, exploring women's emancipation, passion and commitment to liberation.

Women's emancipationRevolution and resistanceIdentity
Translations
  • Translated into English (The Inhabited Woman)

El país bajo mi piel (The Country Under My Skin)

2001 Autobiography / Memoir

A memoir reflecting on the author's involvement in the revolution and her private life. Published in English as The Country Under My Skin; finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2003.

Political activismPersonal historyRole of women
Translations
  • English translation: The Country Under My Skin

El infinito en la palma de la mano (Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand)

2008 Novel (allegory)

An allegorical novel using motifs of Adam and Eve in paradise. Winner of the Premio Biblioteca Breve in 2008.

Religious allegoryHuman desireSexuality and creation
Translations
  • English translation: Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand (translator: Margaret Sayers Peden)

El país de las mujeres (The Country of Women)

2010 Novel (political satire / speculative)

A novel that imagines a society governed by women. Originally submitted with the title 'Crónicas de la Izquierda Erótica' but changed due to similarity with a prior work.

Gender and powerPolitical satireFeminism

El intenso calor de la luna

2014 Novel

A novel released in Latin America in 2014 and published in Spain the same year.

Love and desireMemory

Bibliography

  • Verse Sobre la grama (1972)
  • Línea de fuego (1978)
  • Truenos y arco iris (1982)
  • Amor insurrecto (1985)
  • De la costilla de Eva (1987)
  • La mujer habitada (1988)
  • Poesía reunida (1989)
  • Sofía de los presagios (1990)
  • El ojo de la mujer (1991)
  • Sortilegio contra el frío (1992)
  • El taller de las mariposas (1994)
  • Waslala (1996)
  • El país bajo mi piel (2001)
  • El pergamino de la seducción (2005)
  • El infinito en la palma de la mano (2008)
  • El país de las mujeres (2010)
  • El intenso calor de la luna (2014)

Translations of Works

  • From Eve's Rib (English translation, Stephen F. White, 1995)
  • Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand (English translation, Margaret Sayers Peden, 2009)
  • The Country Under My Skin (English translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Politically engaged and passionate narrative voiceBlend of lyrical poetic expression and narrative plottingRealist perspective with feminist concerns
Recurring Motifs
Women's bodies and desireLiberation and resistanceLand/nature and identity

Legacy

Gioconda Belli is an important figure in Central American literature, especially among Nicaraguan women writers, internationally recognized for works that link revolutionary experience and feminism. She has received multiple international prizes and an honorary doctorate, significantly influencing Latin American letters.

In Popular Culture

  • Some poems (e.g. 'Yo, la que te quiere') have been set to music and shared on platforms like YouTube; her poetry is referenced in popular culture.

Quotes

  • 'El país bajo mi piel' is an attempt to connect my own experience with the story of my country.
    Source: El país bajo mi piel (memoir, 2001) (2001)

Trivia

  • Stripped of Nicaraguan nationality in 2023 by the Ortega government.
  • Accepted Chilean citizenship after Chile offered asylum and nationality to Nicaraguans exiled by Ortega.
  • Awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Edinburgh in 2024.
  • Won the Premio Biblioteca Breve in 2008 for El infinito en la palma de la mano.