Mariela Griffor
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Mariela Griffor (born September 29, 1961, in Concepcion, Chile), is a poet, editor, publisher of Marick Press and diplomat. She is author of four poetry collections, ''Exiliana'', ''House'', ''The Psychiatrist'' and most recently, ''Declassified'' (Eyewear Publishing, 2016), and has had her poems and translations published in many literary journals and magazines including ''Poetry International, Washington Square Review, Texas Poetry Review, and Éditions d'art Le Sabord'', in anthologies including ''Poetry in Michigan / Michigan in Poetry'', from New Issues Press. A variety of Griffor's poems has been translated into Italian, French, Chinese, Swedish, and Spanish. She has been nominated to the Griffin Poetry Prize, to the Whiting Awards and the
PEN/Beyond Margins Award PEN/Open Book (known as the Beyond Margins Award through 2009) is a program intended to foster racial and ethnic diversity within the literary and publishing communities, and works to establish access for diverse literary groups to the publishing i ...
. She was finalist and shortlisted for the 2017 National Translation Award for Canto General by Pablo Neruda.


Early life

Griffor was born in Concepcion,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
. She attended the University of Santiago and the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. She left Chile for an involuntary exile in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
in 1985. Griffor holds a
B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in Journalism from
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
and a M.F.A in creative writing from
New England College New England College (NEC) is a private liberal arts college in Henniker, New Hampshire. As of Fall 2020 New England College's enrollment was 4,327 students (1,776 undergraduate and 2,551 graduate). The college is regionally accredited by the ...
. She and her American husband returned to the United States in 1998. They live in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.


Career

Griffor is co-founder of the institute for Creative Writers at
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
and Publisher of Marick Press. Her work has appeared in Passages North, Cerise Press, Washington Square Review, Texas Poetry Review and many others. She is the author of ''Exiliana'' (Luna Publications) and ''House'' ( Mayapple Press). Her latest publication are The Psychiatrist
Eyewear Publishing
2013 and Declassified, 2017). She is honorary consul of Chile in
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
. Griffor writes about her homeland of
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
, and her immigrant experiences as an
exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
in both Sweden and the United States.


Works

Griffor, who is bilingual, is a rare exception among lyrical Chilean writers that publishes here
hile Hile ( ne, हिले) is a hill town located in the Eastern Part of Nepal, 13 km north of the regional center of Dhankuta Bazar. At an elevation of 1948 meters, it is the main route to other hilly districts like Bhojpur and Sankhuwasa ...
and in other places. In Resolana one notices an exceptional consistency, a coherence in contrast to the robust naturalism of our tradition and, above all, a profound cultural formation – without a doubt, immersed in the North American lyric, especially Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens, Elizabeth Bishop, Marianne Moore – consolidated in hymns to the common and current, in the everyday, in the allusion to the flora and fauna that, without extending in manifest form, uses symbols and literary resources so that the verbal weight asserts itself to her readers. If one has to position Griffor within the recent history of Chilean poetry, her art is closest to poets such as Jorge Teillier, Delia Domínguez and the early Enrique Lihn.


Poetry

*''Exiliana'', una Publications (Toronto, CANADA), 2007 *
House
', ayapple Press (Bay City, Michigan, USA), 2007 *
The Psychiatrist
', yewear Publishing (London, UK), 2013 *
Resolana
'
El Taller del Poeta
(Madrid, SPAIN), 2013 *
Declassified
'

', yewear Publishing (London, UK), 2017


Translation

*''Canto General'',
Tupelo Press Tupelo Press is an American not-for-profit literary press founded in 1999. It produced its first titles in 2001, publishing poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Originally located in Dorset, Vermont, the press has since moved to North Adams, Massachus ...

Canto General
(Boston, USA), 2016 *''Bailando en Odesa'', Tupelo Press
Bailando en Odesa
(Boston, USA), 2017


Editing

*

', Issue 13/14 2009 Special Double Issue Featuring Chilean Poetry Today an Diego State University Press (San Diego, California), 2009


References


External links

*
Marick Press
*
The Psychiatrist
by Mariela Griffor
Death in Argentina
by Mariela Griffor {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffor, Mariela 1961 births Living people American women poets Chilean emigrants to the United States Chilean exiles Chilean women journalists Chilean women poets Hispanic and Latino American journalists Hispanic and Latino American poets New England College alumni University of Santiago, Chile alumni Wayne State University alumni Wayne State University people Writers from Michigan 21st-century Chilean poets 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American poets