Daniel Sada Villarreal (February 25, 1953, in

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000, ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

– November 18, 2011, in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

) was a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

poet, journalist, and writer, whose work has been hailed as one of the most important contributions to the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

Life

Sada was born in Mexicali in 1953. He studied

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

and

Spanish literature Spanish literature generally refers to 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 wit ...

Sacramento, Coahuila Sacramento is a city in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. The city serves as the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of the same name. Sacramento is located at in the state's central region ''(Región Centro)'', some ...

, showing especial affinity for the works of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

and

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

. Sada later said of his early influences, his first contacts with literature, and the

metric structure In music, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter (American spelling) refers to regularly recurring patterns and accents such as bars and beats. Unlike rhythm, metric onsets are not necessarily sounded, but are nevertheless implied by the perfo ...

s he admired: "I have a deep knowledge, from childhood, of the most elemental constructions of these metric forms, so characteristic of Spanish. In my primary school in Sacramento, Coahuila, Panchita Cabrera, a rural schoolteacher who was an ardent fan of the

Spanish Golden Age The Spanish Golden Age ( es, Siglo de Oro, links=no , "Golden Century") is a period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain, coinciding with the political rise of the Spanish Empire under the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and the Spanish H ...

(a type that no longer exists) taught us these

phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

techniques with one goal in mind: that we might fine-tune our ears in order to appreciate the expressive delicacy and virulence of our language". He was a professor at the

Autonomous University of Zacatecas The Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas (UAZ) (Autonomous University of Zacatecas) is a Mexican public research university based in the city of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, but with several campuses across the state. It is considered both the most prest ...

, The Hispanic Academy of

San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the city lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Queré ...

, and the Carlos Setién Garcia School of Journalism. Sada organized many

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

s in

and several other cities. He was granted a scholarship by the INBA and

FONCA The National Endowment for Culture and Arts (''Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes,'' FONCA) is a public agency of the Mexican federal government, attached to the National Council for Culture and the Arts (Conaculta). Funding for FONCA com ...

and, since 1994, he was member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte. Sada died from

renal failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

brought upon by

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

on November 18, 2011 in Mexico City. Hours before Sada's death, he was awarded Mexico's prestigious

National Prize for Arts and Sciences The National Prize for Arts and Sciences ( es, Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes) is awarded annually by the Government of Mexico in six categories. It is part of the Mexican Honours System and was established in 1945. The prize is a gold medal a ...

in the Literature category. Sada never learned of this honor as he had been under

sedation Sedation is the reduction of irritability or agitation by administration of sedative drugs, generally to facilitate a medical procedure or diagnostic procedure. Examples of drugs which can be used for sedation include isoflurane, diethyl ether, ...

immediately prior to his death.

Legacy

Sada’s novels stand out for their internal rhythm and unorthodox use of archaic metric forms and

colloquialisms Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conver ...

. His work has been described as

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and

tragicomic Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a serious ...

. Author

Juan Villoro Juan Villoro (born 24 September 1956, in Mexico City) is a Mexican writer and journalist and the son of philosopher Luis Villoro. He has been well known among intellectual circles in Mexico, Latin America and Spain for years, but his success among ...

stated: "He renewed the Mexican novel with ''Because It Seems to be A Lie, the Truth is Never Known''". According to

Roberto Bolaño Roberto Bolaño Ávalos (; 28 April 1953 – 15 July 2003) was a Chilean novelist, short-story writer, poet and essayist. In 1999, Bolaño won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for his novel ''Los detectives salvajes'' (''The Savage Detectives' ...

: "Daniel Sada is undoubtedly writing some of the most ambitious works in the

". Rafael Lemus said: "Sada...is one of the most extreme reformers of the (Spanish) language, the boldest among Mexicans". In 2008, he won the prestigious Herralde Prize for his novel ''Almost Never''. He also won the

Xavier Villaurrutia Prize 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. Multiple awards have been gi ...

in 1992 and the Jose Fuentes Mares National Literature Prize in 1999. His works have been translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, French,

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

, and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. In the hours before Sada’s death 2011, he was awarded Mexico's prestigious

in the literature category.

Works

Short stories

*Un rato (UAM-I, 1985) *Juguete de nadie y otras historias ( FCE, Letras Mexicanas, 1985) *Los siete pecados capitales (colectivo), (CONACULTA/INBA/SEP, 1989) *Registro de causantes (Joaquín Mortíz, 1990) *Tres historias (UAM/Juan Pablos/CNCA/INBA/Cuadernos del Nigromante, 1991) *Antología presentida (Conaculta, 1993) *Todo y la recompensa. Cuentos completos (Debate, 2002) *Ese modo que colma (

Anagrama Anagrama is a Spanish publisher founded in 1969 by Jorge Herralde. In 2010 it was sold to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. Since 1969, Anagrama has published over 3,500 titles. currently, Anagrama publishes around 100 books annually, between t ...

) *Una de dos / One or the Other, translated by Ellen Calmus. ''Tameme'', 1999.

Novels

*''Lampa vida'' (Premiá Editora, 1980) *''Albedrío'' (Leega Literaria, 1989, Tusquets, 2001) *''Una de dos'' (Alfaguara, 1994, Tusquets, 2002) *''Porque parece mentira la verdad nunca se sabe'' (Tusquets, 1999). *''Luces artificiales'' (Joaquín Mortiz, 2002) *''Ritmo delta'' (Planeta Mexicana, 2005) *''La duración de los empeños simples'' (Joaquín Mortiz, 2006). *''Almost Never'' (''Casi nunca'') (

, 2008). *''A la vista'' (

, 2011). *''El lenguaje del juego'' (

, 2012).

Poetry

*Los lugares (UAM, La Rosa de los Vientos, 1977). *El amor es cobrizo (Ediciones Sin Nombre, 2005). *Aquí (FCE, 2008).

Various

*El límite (Vuelta, 1997)

Prizes

* 1992 -

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. Multiple awards have been gi ...

, for ''Registro de causantes''. * 1999 - Premio Nacional de Literatura José Fuentes Mares, for ''Porque parece mentira la verdad nunca se sabe''. * 2006 - Premio Nacional de Narrativa Colima para Obra Publicada, for ''Ritmo Delta''. * 2008 - Premio Herralde de Novela, for ''Casi nunca''. * 2011 - Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes 2011, Linguistics and Literature. :es:Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes (México)

Films based on his fiction

* 2004 - ''Una de dos''. Directed by Marcel Sisniega. * 2007 - ''El Guapo''. Directed by Marcel Sisniega (based on ''Luces artificiales'').

References

External links

*https://www.wsj.com/articles/billionaires-secret-buyout-formula-110-instructions-and-an-intelligence-test-1531151197
Daniel Sada at Club Cultura
*

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Daniel Sada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sada, Daniel 1953 births 2011 deaths Mexican male writers Mexican columnists Writers from Baja California People from Mexicali Deaths from kidney disease