Gioconda Belli
Gioconda Belli (born December 9, 1948 in Managua, Nicaragua) is a Nicaraguan author, novelist and poet.
Gioconda Belli, partly of Northern Italian descent, was an active participant in the Sandinista struggle against the Somoza dictatorship, and her work for the movement led to her being forced into exile in Mexico in 1975. Returning in 1979 just before the Sandinista victory, she became FSLN's international press liaison in 1982 and the director of State Communications in 1984. During that time she met Charles Castaldi, an American NPR journalist, whom she married in 1987. She has been living in both Managua and Los Angeles since 1990. She has since left the FSLN and is now a major critic of the current government.
Belli graduated from the Royal School of Santa Isabel in Madrid, Spain and studied advertising and journalism in Philadelphia.
In 1988, Belli's book La Mujer Habitada (The Inhabited Woman), a semi-autobiographical novel that raised gender issues for the first time in the Nicaraguan revolutionary narratives, brought her increased attention; this book has been published in several languages and was on the reading list at four universities in the United States. The novel follows two parallel stories: the indigenous resistance to the Spanish and modern insurgency in Central America with various points in common: women's emancipation, passion, and a commitment to liberation. In 2000, she published her autobiography, emphasizing her involvement in the revolutionary movement, El país bajo mi piel, published under the name The Country Under My Skin in the United States; it was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2003. Belli continues publishing and maintains that poetry is her most important work. Belli was the recipient of the Premio de Poesía Mariano Fiallos Gil in 1972 and of the Premio Casa de las Américas in 1978. In 2008 Belli received the Biblioteca Breve Award for her book El infinito en la palma de la mano (Infinity in the Palm of The Hand), an allegory about Adam and Eve in paradise.
Belli's books have been published in numerous languages.
(from Wikipedia)
“Ya no mujer joven sino mujer rotunda. Mis deseos ya no intuiciones sino certezas.”
“Antiguo oficio humano, este de querer apagar la luz. ¿Te acordás de la última vez que creímos poder iluminar la noche?.”
“El amor de mi hombre no conocerá el miedo a la entrega, ni temerá descubrirse ante la magia del enamoramiento en una plaza llena de multitudes. Podrá gritar -te quiero- o hacer rótulos en lo alto de los edificios proclamando su derecho a sentir el más hermoso y humano de los sentimientos.”
“Llueve copiosamente sobre mi cara y sólo pienso en tu lejano amor mientras cobijo con todas mis fuerzas, la esperanza.”
“Peace is the respect for the rights of the other person.”
“Quiero tener ese hijo tuyo, amor. Dárteme desde dentro de mi vientre en una nueva prolongación de tu inmortalidad. Mostrarte hasta dónde puede crecer mi vida, como un árbol, si tú la riegas; hasta dónde puedo llegar a dárteme en todas las formas, en todos los momentos conscientes e inconscientes, llegar a ser tu río, tu sombra, la almohada suave donde apoyar tu cabeza, el viento, el mar, la risa, la mañana, tu cama, tu suelo, tu mujer.”
“Sola yo, amor, y vos quién sabe dónde; tu recuerdo me mece como al maíz el viento y te traigo en el tiempo, recorro los caminos, me río a carcajadas y somos los dos juntos otra vez, junto al agua.”
“Mi piel está grabada con tus señales y no hay viento ni agua que pueda lavarlas sin dejar mi nombre borroso, desteñido y sin sonrisa.”
“El sueño pesa sobre mis hombros y me acerca de nuevo a vos, al huequito de tu brazo, a tu respiración, a una continuación infinita de la batalla de sábanas y almohadas que empezamos y que pone risa y energía a nuestro cansancio.”
“Te abrazo y corren las mandarinas; te beso y todas las uvas sueltan el vino oculto de su corazón sobre mi boca.”
“Yo pongo estrellas entre tu piel y la mía y te recorro entero, sendero tras sendero, descalzando mi amor, desnudando mi miedo.”
“Vestime de amor que estoy desnuda.”
“Así como esta lluvia,me desbordo en palabraspara contarte todos mis quehaceres,para meterte en todos los rincones de mi día,en todos los aleros de mis horas”
“Dare to change the worldThere is nothing quixotic or romantic in wanting to change the world. It is possible. It is the age-old vocation of all humanity. I can't think of a better life than one dedicated to passion, to dreams, to the stubborness that defies chaos and disillusionment.”