Raquel del Pozo Epita (1938–1992), known as Raquel Ilombé, was an Equatorial Guinean

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 ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

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, who wrote in

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Background and early life

She was born in

Spanish Guinea Spanish Guinea (Spanish: ''Guinea Española'') was a set of insular and continental territories controlled by Spain from 1778 in the Gulf of Guinea and on the Bight of Bonny, in Central Africa. It gained independence in 1968 as Equatorial G ...

(today

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

), on the island of

Corisco Corisco, Mandj, or Mandyi, is a small island of Equatorial Guinea, located southwest of the Río Muni estuary that defines the border with Gabon. Corisco, whose name derives from the Portuguese word for lightning, has an area of , and its highe ...

, to an Equatorial Guinean mother and Spanish father. In her infancy, she moved to

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Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. She studied music and poem recital at the Madrid Royal Conservatory. She only returned to Equatorial Guinea later in life after she had married, and made several unhindered personal trips during the time of Francisco Macías Nguema. She died in

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in 1992.

Poetry and writings

Ilombé is "recognized as the first female published author of Equatorial Guinean literature." Her pseudonym originates from one of the four main characters of the Ndowe storytelling. In this oral tradition, "Ilombe" represents the character of the dutiful(obedient) daughter. Her first major published work was ''Ceiba'', a collection of poems published in 1978. One of the primary topics is love. Ilombé wrote poems between 1970 and 1977 and they are arranged chronologically. References to both traditional African values and

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values can be seen within the work, such as in the poem "Quién Soy" (English: "Who am I"). While her references to nature reflect both Spain and Equatorial Guinea, her poems do not specifically touch on the nature of her being in

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. The collection is named after the '' Ceiba pentandra'' tree, the national tree of Equatorial Guinea which is found on its flag; the tree is also considered sacred. In 1981 she published ''Leyendas Guineanas'' (English: Guinean Legends), a collection of eight legends from the Guinean ethnic groups of the

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, and

Ndowe This article is about the demographic features of the population of Equatorial Guinea, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. ...

. It is considered the first children's book of Equatoguinean literature. In order to get the information found in the book, she toured remote villages in Equatorial Guinea in search of disappearing oral culture. She has also published the poems "Nerea", "Ausencia", and "Amor", and written but not published the poem "Olvido".

Background and early life

Poetry and writings

References

See also