Maialen Lujanbio (born 26 November 1976) is a Basque poet and
bertsolari winner. She composes her oral poetry in the
Basque language and she is the only woman to ever reach her level.
Life
Lujanbio was born in
Hernani Hernani may refer to:
*Hernani, Eastern Samar, a municipality in Eastern Samar, Philippines
*Hernani, Gipuzkoa, a town in Gipuzkoa, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain
* ''Hernani'' (drama), a Romantic drama by Victor Hugo
*Hernani CRE, a Spanish ru ...
in 1976. She took an interest in the Basque oral tradition of poetry whilst at secondary school. She attended specialist classes and continued to practise whilst at the
University of the Basque Country.
She won prizes at the junior and then senior level introducing novel approaches to the poetry discipline. In 1994 she became the Champion of
Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...
.
In 2003 she wrote for the Basque newspaper,
Berria, completing a column each day.
In 2007-8 she took a postgraduate course at
Mondragon University
Mondragon University ( eu, Mondragon Unibertsitatea, MU) is a non-profit cooperative private university in the Basque Country, officially established and recognised in 1997. It is part of Mondragon Corporation. Its main campus is in Mondragón ...
in the Basque language and its transmission.
In 2009, Maialen Lujanbio Zugasti became the first woman to win the championship.
[ In 2013 she was second just after Amets Arzallus and in 2017 and 2022 she won for the second and third time the Bertsolari Main Championship.]
Solo challenge in 2009
''Maialen, you are a doctor. You're observing two children suffering from cancer organising a wheelchair race in a hospital corridor'', to which she composed the following bertso:
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lujanbio, Maialen
1976 births
Living people
People from Hernani
Bertsolaris
University of the Basque Country alumni