Carmen Naranjo Coto (January 30, 1928 – January 4, 2012) was a Costa Rican

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

. She was a recipient of the Aquileo J. Echeverría National Prize.

Life

Naranjo was born in Cartago, the capital city of the

Cartago Province Cartago (), which means Carthage in Spanish, is a Provinces of Costa Rica, province of central Costa Rica. It is one of the smallest provinces, however probably the richest of the Spanish Colonial era sites and traditions. Geography It is loca ...

. She received her primary education there at the Escuela República de Perú and her secondary at the Colegio Superior de Señoritas. She received her ''

licenciatura A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels. The Licentiate (Pontifical Degree) is a post graduate degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universit ...

'' in Philology from the

University of Costa Rica The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro Mo ...

and pursued post-graduate studies at the

Universidad Autónoma de México Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

and the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. Naranjo served as Costa Rica's ambassador to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in the 1970s and also as the country's minister of culture (1974-1976). She was the author of the Costa Rican system of social security. She was inducted into

La Galería de las Mujeres de Costa Rica La Galería de las Mujeres de Costa Rica (The Women's Gallery of Costa Rica) was founded in March 2002 to recognize the contributions of women to the cultural, political and socio-economic development of Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially th ...

(The Women's Gallery of Costa Rica) in 2005.

Literary career

Naranjo wrote multiple books, including poetry, novels, storybooks, and essays. Her novels and stories have had much success, such as her first novel ''Los perros no ladraron'' (1966); however, Naranjo is also known for her poetry, such as ''La canción de la ternura'' (1964) and ''Hacia tu isla (''1966). After Naranjo returned to Costa Rica in 1964, having worked for United Nations in Venezuela, her literary career began to take off. She enrolled in a writer's workshop, led by Lilia Ramos (Costa Rican essayist), she began reading work by Latin American authors such as

Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), '' The Old Gringo'' (1985) and '' Christop ...

Juan Rulfo Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo (; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel ''Pedro Páramo'', and the ...

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

, and

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...

, and she published her first volumes of poetry, ''Hacia tu isla'' (1966) and ''Misa a oscuras'' (1964). She published her first novel, ''Los perros no ladraron'' in 1966, and in 1968, two more followed: ''Memorias de un hombre de palabra'' and ''Camino al mediodía''. The success she had from her first three novels opened an international opportunity for her career and literary reputation. Upon accepting an invitation to the University of Iowa in the United States, Naranjo spent a year in 1969 in the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

, where she completed her next novel, ''Diario de una multitud'' (published in 1974). In 1970, after much success with ''Camino al mediodía'', which won second place in ''The Central American and Panama Flower Games'' (Los Juegos Florales Centroamericanos y de Panamá), she began to teach workshops (writing classes), and as a direct result of these classes, Naranjo was inspired to write her next notable novel, ''Responso Por El Niño Juan Manuel'' (1970).

Bibliography

*''Cancion de la ternura'', 1964 *''Misa a oscuras'', 1964 *''Hacia tu isla'', 1966 *''Los perros no ladraron'', 1966 *''Memorias de un hombre palabra'', 1968 *''Diario de una multitud'', 1974 *''Cinco años en busca de un pensador'', 1977 *''Mi guerrilla'', 1977 *''Nunca hubo alguna vez'', 1984 *''El caso 117.720'', 1987 *''En partes'', 1994 *''Más allá del Parismina'', 2001 *''En esta tierra redonda y plana'', 2001 *''Marina Jiménez de Bolandi: recordándola'', 2002 *''El Truco Florido'',

Translations of her short stories into English

*Rosario Santos (ed.), ''And We Sold the Rain: Contemporary Fiction from Central America'' (title story in the collection), Seven Stories Press, (2nd edition 1996); *Barbara Ras (ed.), ''Costa Rica: A Traveler's Literary Companion'', Whereabouts Press (1993); *Linda Britt (trans.), ''There Never Was a Once Upon a Time'', Latin American Literary Review Press (1989); *Andrés Alfaro (trans.), "Wouldn't You Believe It?" Trinity Jolt Journal of Literary Translation. (Apr. 2014). Translated from the short story "A qué no me van a creer?" by Carmen Naranjo.

References

External links

First Congress of Central American Women Writers, Nicaragua
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naranjo, Carmen 1928 births 2012 deaths Costa Rican novelists 20th-century Costa Rican poets People from Cartago Province University of Costa Rica alumni National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni University of Iowa alumni Ambassadors of Costa Rica to Israel Government ministers of Costa Rica Deaths from cancer in Costa Rica Costa Rican women essayists Costa Rican essayists Costa Rican women novelists Costa Rican women poets 20th-century novelists International Writing Program alumni 20th-century essayists Women government ministers of Costa Rica Costa Rican women ambassadors 20th-century Costa Rican women writers 21st-century Costa Rican women writers 20th-century Costa Rican writers 21st-century Costa Rican writers Costa Rican expatriates in Mexico Costa Rican expatriates in the United States 20th-century Costa Rican women politicians 20th-century Costa Rican politicians