Ernesto Mejía Sánchez (

Masaya Masaya () is the capital city of Masaya Department in Nicaragua. It is situated approximately 14 km west of Granada, Nicaragua, Granada and 31 km southeast of Managua. It is located just east of the Masaya Volcano, an active volcano ...

, Nicaragua, 1923 – Mérida, Mexico, 1985) was a Nicaraguan author and poet. He took his doctoral degree in Madrid and, for several years was a professor at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

. His first work was ''Romances y Corridos Nicaragüenses'', a compilation of stories, which was published in Mexico in 1946. He was a political adversary of

Somoza The Somoza family () is a political family which ruled Nicaragua under a dictatorship over a period of forty-three years, from 1936 to 1979. Founder, Anastasio Somoza García – who served as the President of Nicaragua from 1937 until 1956 – ...

. For that reason, he wrote a book of

political poetry Political poetry brings together politics and poetry. According to "The Politics of Poetry" by David Orr, poetry and politics connect through expression and feeling, although both of them are matters of persuasion. Political poetry connects to pe ...

in 1950. This work launched his career as a poet. Together with Carlos Martinez Rivas, Pablo Antonio Cuadra y

Ernesto Cardenal Ernesto Cardenal Martínez (20 January 1925 – 1 March 2020) was a Nicaraguan Catholic priest, poet, and politician. He was a liberation theologian and the founder of the primitivist art community in the Solentiname Islands, where he lived fo ...

, he became part of what was called the "Generation of 1940". In addition to being a poet, he was known as an expert on the work of

Rubén Darío Félix Rubén García Sarmiento (18 January 1867 – 6 February 1916), known as Rubén Darío ( , ), was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-language literary movement known as '' modernismo'' (modernism) that flourished at the end of ...

. In 1983, he edited an edition of Darío's complete stories and, in 1985, his complete poetry. In 1971, he became

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

at the

National Autonomous University of Nicaragua The National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (, UNAN) is a public university in Nicaragua. Its main campus is located in Managua. The original campus, National Autonomous University of Nicaragua-León, UNAN-Leon, is located in León, Nicaragua ...

and, a year later, received the

Xavier Villaurrutia Award The Xavier Villaurrutia Award (Premio Xavier Villaurrutia) is a prestigious literary prize given in Mexico, to a Latin American writer published in Mexico. Founded in 1955, it was named in memory of Xavier Villaurrutia. Its jury is composed of pre ...

. In 1980, he was appointed Nicaragua's ambassador to Spain and, afterwards, to Argentina. That same year, he was awarded the Alfonso Reyes International Prize.

Selected works

* ''Ensalmos y Conjuros'', Cuadernos Americanos (1947) * ''La Carne Contigua'' (1948) * ''El Retorno'' (1950) * ''Contemplaciones Europeas'', Ministry of Culture (1957) * ''Estelas/Homenajes'' (1971) * ''Recolección a Mediodía'', Conaculta (2010)

References

External links

Poéticas: A selection of his poetryErnesto Mejía Sanchez recorded at the Library of Congress for the Hispanic Division’s audio literary archive on Oct. 7, 1960
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mejia Sanchez, Ernesto 20th-century Nicaraguan poets Nicaraguan male poets Nicaraguan academics Nicaraguan diplomats 1923 births 1985 deaths Ambassadors of Nicaragua to Spain Ambassadors of Nicaragua to Argentina 20th-century Nicaraguan male writers Academic staff of the National Autonomous University of Mexico Nicaraguan expatriates in Mexico Xavier Villaurrutia Award winners