María Concepción Zardoya González, also known as Concha Zardoya, (14 November 1914 – 21 April 2004) was a Chilean poet and literary critic. During her career, she published nearly 40 poetry collections and won multiple literary awards. Born in Chile, she moved to Spain at the age of 17 and lived through the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. She graduated from the University of Madrid and later lived in the United States for nearly 30 years, teaching

Spanish literature Spanish literature is literature ( Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects with that of other ...

at multiple universities, including the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. She wrote numerous essays, children's literature, screenplays, and a biography of the poet

Miguel Hernández Miguel Hernández Gilabert (30 October 1910 – 28 March 1942 ) was a 20th-century Spanish-language poet and playwright associated with the Generation of '27 and the Generation of '36 movements. Born and raised in a family of low resources, he ...

. Some of her stories were published under the pseudonym Concha de Salamanca.

Early life in Chile

María Concepción Zardoya González was born on 14 November 1914, in

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

to Concepción González Ortiz and Alfonso Zardoya Francés, who were from the Spanish communities of

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

and

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

. She had both

osteoporosis Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass, micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to more porous bone, and consequent increase in Bone fracture, fracture risk. It is the most common reason f ...

and

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

. She graduated from Liceo nº 2 in Valparaíso in 1930.

Emigration to Madrid

In 1932, when Zardoya was 17 years old, her family emigrated to Spain. They first lived in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, then in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, before eventually settling in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. She studied at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Madrid from 1934 to 1936 where she was a student of

José Ortega y Gasset José Ortega y Gasset (; ; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. His philosoph ...

and

Américo Castro Américo Castro Quesada (May 4, 1885 – July 25, 1972) was a Spanish cultural historian, philologist, and literary critic who challenged some of the prevailing notions of Spanish identity, raising controversy with his conclusions that Spaniards ...

. In Madrid she became acquainted with the Chilean poets

Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...

and

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator, and Catholic. She was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order or Third Franciscan order. She was ...

. Her education was interrupted by the outbreak of the

. Zardoya moved to

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

during the

siege of Madrid The siege of Madrid was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Second Spanish Republic, Republican-controlled Spain, Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, ...

where she studied library science. She developed an interest in Communism and leftist politics and worked at Cultura Popular, an organisation that hosted cultural events and established libraries for soldiers and workers in the war effort. She read her poetry on the radio.

Writing career

Zardoya's only brother, Alfonso, died during the civil war. She started writing poetry and published her first poems in the magazine ''Hora de España'' in 1937 with the help of poet José María Quiroga Pla. She returned to Madrid after the end of the war and in the early 1940s worked as a teacher, translator, and seamstress. She taught Spanish and Spanish literature at the school Atenea de Madrid. Zardoya continued writing, and in 1944 published her first book, ''Cuentos del antiguo Nilo'' (''Tales of the Ancient Nile''), using the pseudonym Concha de Salamanca. She also wrote screenplays, prologues for classic literature, and a series for youth. In 1945, she travelled to the United States to speak and translated the works of

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

. In 1946 she published ''Pájaros del Nuevo Mundo'', her first poetry collection. In 1947, she published ''Dominio del llanto''. She wrote a screenplay about

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish Romanticism, romantic painter and Printmaking, printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hi ...

and published compilations of Hispanic stories and legends. In addition to the works of Whitman, Zardoya translated the writings of

Charles Langbridge Morgan Charles Langbridge Morgan (22 January 1894 – 6 February 1958) was a British playwright and novelist of English and Welsh parentage. The main themes of his work were, as he himself put it, "Art, Love, and Death", and the relation between t ...

. Zardoya returned to school as a free student and earned a degree in modern

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

in 1947. Her 1947 poetry collection ''Dominios del llanto'' was runner-up for the

Premio Adonáis de Poesía The Premio Adonáis, or Adonais Prize for Poetry, is awarded annually in Spain by Ediciones RIALP to an unpublished Spanish language poem. Runners-up are also recognized. Named after the collection of the same name, the Adonais Prize was created ...

Teaching in the United States

Zardoya moved to the United States in 1948 and taught

at the

. She also received a doctorate from the

; her dissertation was on the Spanish image in American poetry. She went on to teach at

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

in 1951, and later at multiple North American universities, including

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

and

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. She was awarded a First Honorable Mention at the Premio Catá de Cuentos in Havana in 1949. Zardoya was friends with poet

and wrote a biography of him titled ''Miguel Hernández. Vida y obra. Bibliografía. Antología'' in 1955. That same year she won the Boscán Poetry Prize for her poetry collection ''Debajo de la luz''. During her career, Zardoya published nearly 40 poetry collections. She dedicated herself to essay writing from 1966 to 1974, focusing on Spanish and American literature. She wrote up Spanish-language survey of

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the British colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also ...

as well as surveys of modern

Spanish poetry This article concerns poetry in Spain. Medieval Spain The Medieval period covers 400 years of different poetry texts and can be broken up into five categories. Primitive lyrics Since the findings of the Kharjas, which are mainly two, three, ...

. She regularly wrote for cultural magazines and published books on contemporary

and the history of North American literature.

Retirement and later life

Zardoya retired in 1977 and returned to Spain where she continued to write poetry. In 1980, Zardoya chaired the Association of Friends of Miguel Hernández and won the Café Marfil Poetry Prize with her book ''Ritos, cifras y evasiones''. Zardoya's poetry was thematically diverse, sometimes reflecting on social and ethical behaviors. Her poetry collections sometimes revolved around small objects such as a fan. Her poetry collection ''Los ríos caudales'' was a tribute to the

Generation of '27 The Generation of '27 () was an influential group of poets that arose in Spain, Spanish literary circles between 1923 and 1927, essentially out of a shared desire to experience and work with avant-garde forms of art and poetry. Their first form ...

. She also wrote children's literature such as ''En la isla de Pascua'' (1985), ''Cuentos sin edad'' (1989), and ''Caramurú y la anaconda'' (1992). Her final poetry collection, ''Ronda del arco iris'', included 33 short compositions dedicated to children and was published in 2004. Zardoya died of heart failure on 21 April 2004 at her home in

Majadahonda Majadahonda () is a municipality in Spain, situated northwest of Madrid, in the Community of Madrid. It lies alongside the motorway A6 Madrid- A Coruña. The Puerta de Hierro university (public) hospital was relocated to Majadahonda from the ...

, Spain. A public library in Majadahonda is named for her.

Awards

*Premio Boscán de Poesía for ''Debajo de la luz'' (1955) *Premio Fémina de Poesía for ''El corazón y la sombra'' (1975) *Premio Café Marfil de Poesía for ''Ritos, cifras, y evasiones'' (1980) *Premio Ópera Óptima for ''Manhattan y otras latitudes'' (1983) *Premio Prometeo de Poesía for ''Altamor'' (1988)

Selected works

*''Pájaros del Nuevo Mundo'' (1946) *''Dominios del llanto'' (1947) *''Los signos'' (1954) *''El desterrado ensueño'' (1955) *''Miguel Hernández. Vida y obra. Bibliografía. Antología'' (1955) *''El desterrado ensueño'' (1955) *''Mirar al cielo es tu condena'' (1957) *''La casa deshabitada'' (1959) *''Elegías'' (1961) *''Corral de vivos y muertos'' (1965) *''Hondo sur'' (1968) *''Poesía española del siglo XX'' (1974) *''El corazón y la sombra'' (1977) *''Manhattan y otras latitudes'' (1983) *''Retorno a Magerit'' (1983) *''En la isla de Pascua'' (1985) *''Ritos, cifras, y evasiones'' (1985) *''No llega a ser ceniza lo que arde'' (1985) *''Altamor'' (1986) *''Retorno a Magerit'' (1986) *''Cuentos sin edad'' (1989) *''Patrimonio de ciegos'' (1992) *''Caramurú y la anaconda'' (1992) *''El don de la simiente'' (1993) *''Sintonimias del adiós'' (2002) *''Alrededores míos'' (2003) *''Ronda del arco iris'' (2004)