Claribel Alegría

• Born: May 12, 1924
• Birthplace: Estelí, Nicaragua
• Died: January 25, 2018
• Place of death: Managua, Nicaragua

Biography

Claribel Alegría was born to a Nicaraguan father and a Salvadoran mother in Estelí, Nicaragua, on May 12, 1924. Soon after, her family moved to Santa Ana, El Salvador, where she was raised. Alegría briefly revisited Nicaragua in 1929 and returned until 1943, when she moved to the United States. In 1948, after studying at Loyola University in New Orleans, Alegría completed her bachelor’s degree in philosophy and letters at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. She was married to Darwin (”Bud”) Flakoll, who was born in Wendte, South Dakota, in 1923, and worked as a journalist in Washington, D.C., and Mexico City. Flakoll also served as a U.S. diplomat in Uruguay and Argentina. When Alegría completed her education, the couple traveled to Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, and Paris. In 1983, the couple returned to Managua, Nicaragua, where Alegría continued to live after Flakoll’s death in 1996 until her own death.

The civil war in El Savador is the primary inspiration for much of Alegría’s writings. Her poetry is strongly influenced by the works of Pablo Neruda, Ernesto Cardenal, and Roque Dalton, who were committed to the social struggles of the people in Central America. Throughout her life, Alegría’s writing emphasized her dedication to nonviolent resistance, even during her close affiliation with the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which was a citizens’ movement that took control of the Nicaraguan government in 1979. In the 1980s Alegría returned to Nicaragua to aid in her country’s reconstruction. Alegría’s writing also reflects the literary movement that took place in Central America during the mid-1950s and early 1960s and was headed by a group known as la generación comprometida, or the Committed Generation. This group was established by the intellectual members of the middle and upper classes in order to promote social and political justice for underprivileged members of society.

During her career, Alegría published numerous books of poetry, including Saudade/Sorrow, which focuses on the death of her husband and explores the complexities of the grief cycle. In accordance with her commitment to peaceful political protest, Alegría’s poetry also addresses feminist issues, urging women to break free from the oppressive conditions of patriarchal society. She was also a writer of novels and children’s stories. Along with Nicaraguan poet Gioconda Belli, Alegría won the Cuban-sponsored Casa de las Américas prize in 1978 for her poem “Sobrevivo.” Through her extensive literary repertoire and active political involvement, Alegría became a central voice against social injustices in Central America. She published many books of poetry, short novels, and a book of children’s stories. In collaboration with her husband, she published another novel, several books of testimony, and a number of anthologies. Her works have been translated into more than ten languages, which clearly reflects her far-ranging success as both a writer and as an advocate for human rights. Her dedicated efforts in literature and politics inspired advancements towards peace and equality in Central America. She died on January 25, 2018.

Bibliography

"Claribel Alegría." Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/claribel-alegr%C3%ADa. Accessed 30 Mar. 2018.

Genzlinger, Neil. "Claribel Alegría, 93, Poet for Central America’s Voiceless, Dies." The New York Times, 6 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/obituaries/claribel-alegra-central-american-poet-dies.html. Accessed 30 Mar. 2018.

Wachtel, Chuck. "Escape and Tyrannicide." Review of Tunnel to Canto Grande and Death of Sonzoza, by Claribel Alegría and Darwin Flakoll. The Nation, 5 Feb. 2018, www.thenation.com/article/escape-and-tyrannicide/. Accessed 30 Mar. 2018.