the warmly-radiant heart of poet Gabriela Mistral

the warmly-radiant heart of poet Gabriela Mistral
   .......~^/\/\^~.......


brief bio:

Gabriela Mistral  (April 7, 1889 – January 11, 1957) 

    was the chosen pen name of Lucila Godoy y Alcayaga

  (full name  ~  Lucila de María del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga),

a Chilean poet (& essayist), educator and diplomat
who was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize, in 1945. 

Though her personal life was often struck by tragedy, Mistral played an important role 

in changing Mexican and Chilean educational systems.

Mistral published over 30 collections of poetry in her lifetime. Some central themes in 

her poems are nature, betrayal, love (especially maternal love), sorrow 

and recovery, travel, and Latin American identity as formed from a mixture of native 

and European influences. Mistral's poetry is influenced by her Christian faith and

a recurrent theme in her poems is that of a "rebirth" after death; and, 

hence, liberation from the world.

Some of Mistral's best known poems include:   
    Piececitos de Niño;     Balada,  

Todas Íbamos a ser Reinas;  La Oración de la Maestra;
   El Ángel Guardián;

Decálogo del Artista;  and  La Flor del Aire.

~*~

Marcy Gruenhut recommends these educational resources  --

*   University of Chile  =  Gabriela Mistral website (archive)  =>

http://gabrielamistral.uchile.cl/index.html

*   "Anthology of 163 Poems by Gabriela Mistral"  
                   {bilingual publication, 
    with translations by Ursula K. Le Guin}    =>
http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Mistral.html

*     Gabriela Mistral Foundation   =>
http://gabrielamistralfoundation.org/web/

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