Olga Orozco
Olga Orozco was an influential Argentinian poet born on March 17, 1920, in Toay, La Pampa, Argentina. Growing up in an affluent family, with her father's sawmill business and the evocative landscapes of her childhood shaping her artistic vision, Orozco began writing poetry at an early age. She became associated with the Generation of 1940, contributing to the literary magazine Canto and gaining recognition for her work. Her first poetry collection, "Desde lejos," was published in 1946, and she later ventured into prose with "La oscuridad es otro sol" in 1967, showcasing her talent for dreamlike and autobiographical writing.
Orozco's literary career spanned several decades, during which she also worked as a radio actress and journalist, adopting various pseudonyms. Her poetry is celebrated for its rich metaphors and exploration of supernatural themes. Over her lifetime, she received numerous prestigious awards, including the Rulfo Prize and the Inter-American Cultural "Gabriela Mistral" Prize, affirming her significant contributions to literature. Orozco passed away on August 15, 1999, in Buenos Aires, leaving behind a legacy marked by nine volumes of poetry and two prose works that continue to resonate in the literary world.
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Olga Orozco
Writer
- Born: March 17, 1920
- Birthplace: Toay, La Pampa, Argentina
- Died: August 15, 1999
- Place of death: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Biography
Olga Orozco was born into an affluent family on March 17, 1920, in Toay, La Pampa, Argentina. Her father, Carmelo Gugliotta, owned a sawmill and forested land. Her mother was Cecilia Orozco. The landscape of Toay left an indelible impression on her memory, influencing her later work. In 1928, her family moved to Bahia Blanca; and, in 1936, they moved to Buenos Aires. In 1937, she received a teaching certificate, which she never used. Although she enrolled at the faculty of liberal arts at the University of Buenos Aires, she did not receive a degree. She married Gómez, a poet, though the marriage did not last. Later, she married Valerio Peluffo, an architect. She had no children.
Orozco wrote her first poem at the age of ten. She became a member of the Generation of 1940, a group of poets associated with Canto, a magazine in which she frequently published. Her first collection of poems, Desde lejos (from afar), was published in 1946. She served as a commentator for Radio Municipal, then worked as a radio actress from 1947 to 1957. In 1965, she began writing as a journalist for the magazine Claudia under various pseudonyms.
Orozco published her first prose volume, La oscuridad es otro sol (darkness is another sun), a work of dreamlike autobiographical fiction, in 1967. The book’s sequel, También la luz es un abismo (light is also an abyss), was published in 1995. Cantos a Berenice (songs to Berenice), published in 1977, is a collection of poems dedicated to her deceased cat. She died of a heart attack August 15, 1999, in Buenos Aires Argentina.
Orozco’s numerous awards include a 1971 Great Honor Prize from the Argentine Poetry Foundation, a 1980 Great Prize from the National Arts Fund, a 1981 First Esteban Echeverria Poetry Prize, a 1988 First National Poetry Prize, a 1989 Great Honor Prize from the Argentine Society of Writers, a 1995 Inter-American Cultural “Gabriela Mistral” Prize and Argentine Liberal Arts Academy Honor Prize, and a 1998 Rulfo Prize.
Having published nine volumes of poetry and two volumes of prose in addition to holding a prodigious number of literary prizes, Olga Orozco is recognized for her dreamlike images, her rich use of metaphor, and her thematic focus on the supernatural.