Ana Ilce Gómez Ortega (28 October 1944 – 1 November 2017) was a Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and librarian. She is considered an important figure in contemporary Nicaraguan poetry.[1][2][3]
Early life and education
editGómez Ortega was born in 1944 in Masaya, Nicaragua, in the indigenous[specify] village of Monimbó.[4] Her father was Sofonías Gomez, a teacher and painter of religious images who worked to improve literacy in their community,[5][2] and her mother was Ana María Ortega Silva.[6] She was the youngest of four children.[7]
Gómez began writing at 8 or 9 years old.[5] After graduating high school in 1963, she studied journalism at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, then obtained a master's in library science at the University of Barcelona.[6][8]
Career
editPoetry
editHer poetry was first published in 1964, in the cultural supplement of the newspaper La Prensa.[8] After continuing to publish in various periodicals, Gómez produced her first book, Las ceremonias del silencio, in 1975. It is considered a significant work of Nicaragua's "generation of the '70s" literary movement.[9][10]
An opponent of the Somoza regime in the 1970s, though not a formal member of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, Gómez later joined the Asociación Sandinista de Trabajadores de la Cultura, an organization of Sandinista artists, in the 1980s. She traveled to other socialist countries on cultural exchanges during Daniel Ortega's first presidency.[5][8]
In 1982, Gómez was the only woman included in Steven F. White's bilingual anthology Poets of Nicaragua.[10] In 1989, she was awarded the "Orden de la Independencia Cultural Rubén Darío", which recognized important contributions by Nicaraguan artists and intellectuals.[11]
She was further recognized for her poetry in 2002 by the Centro Nicaragüense de Escritores, and the following year her literary output was honored by the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua.[12]
Her second collection, Poemas de lo humano cotidiano, was published in 2004. It won first prize in the Mariana Sansón National Contest of Poetry Written by Women, held by the Nicaraguan Association of Women Writers.[12][10]
Gómez's poems are simple and intimate. She wrote about being a woman in Nicaraguan society and dealing with love, death, and emotional connection.[7][13]
She became a member of the Academia Nicaragüense de la Lengua in 2006, only the second woman ever to join the literary organization.[10][12]
Other work
editGómez also worked as a journalist and in public relations for various institutions.[8][7][1] After obtaining her master's degree, she went on to run the library of the Central Bank, from 1990 to 1997, and direct the Armando Joya Guillén National Library.[6][12][8]
Personal life and legacy
editGómez had two children, Marco Antonio and Valeria, with the photographer Samuel Barreto. After their split, she remained single.[10][14] Her experience as a single mother helped spur her to fight for women's rights in her country.[5]
She died of cancer in 2017, aged 73, in Masaya, where she had retired to the same house where she was born.[1][7] A book of her collected works, titled Poesía reunida, was released the following year.[4][15]
Selected works
edit- Las ceremonias del silencio. 1975
- Poemas de lo humano cotidiano. 2004
- Poesía reunida. 2018
References
edit- ^ a b c EFE (2 November 2017). "Muere la poeta nicaragüense Ana Ilce Gómez". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ a b "Ana Ilce Gómez: ¿Quién es esta mujer que pasa?". Magazine - La Prensa Nicaragua (in Spanish). 13 November 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ The Princeton encyclopedia of poetry and poetics. Greene, Roland, 1957-, Cushman, Stephen, 1956-, Cavanagh, Clare., Ramazani, Jahan, 1960-, Rouzer, Paul F., Feinsod, Harris. (4th ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4008-4142-4. OCLC 809249326.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b Marcos, Javier Rodríguez (26 June 2018). "Mujer difícil". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d Valle-Castillo, Julio (31 December 2017). "La debilidad de Ana Ilce". El Nuevo Diario (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ a b c Martínez, Francisco-Ernesto (March 2013). "La poeta Ana Ilce Gómez en el 50 aniversario de su bachillerato" (PDF). Temas Nicaragüenses. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d Vílchez, Dánae (1 November 2017). "Ana Ilce Gómez: Hilandera de palabras". Niú (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "POESÍA NICARAGÜENSE. ANA ILCE GÓMEZ". Nueva York Poetry Review (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ Tijerino, Yasoka. "La influencia de Carlos Martínez Rivas en Ana Ilce Gómez: Las ceremonias del silencio". Alastor. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Ana Ilce Gómez, la poeta y su obra". El Nuevo Diario: Dominical. 5 November 2017.
- ^ Pérez Alencart, Alfredo (August 2018). "RECUERDO SALMANTINO DE LA POETA NICARAGÜENSE ANA ILCE GÓMEZ". Lengua: Revista de la Academia Nicaragüense de la Lengua.
- ^ a b c d "Ana Ilce Gómez Ortega". Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- ^ Concise encyclopedia of Latin American literature. Smith, Verity, 1939-. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. 2000. ISBN 1-57958-252-4. OCLC 46686731.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Lacayo Renner, Nadine (25 February 2017). "¿Y LOS LIBROS DE ANA ILCE GÓMEZ?". Asociación Nicaragüense de Escritoras.
- ^ "POESIA REUNIDA | ANA ILCE GOMEZ". Casa del Libro (in European Spanish). 2 May 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2020.