Elisa Mújica Velásquez (21 January, 1918 – 27 March, 2003) was a Colombian writer. She published novels, short stories, essays, books for children as well as interviews, book reviews and columns for local newspapers '' El Tiempo'' and ''

El Espectador ''El Espectador'' () is a nationally circulated Colombian newspaper founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez in 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It was initially published twice a week, 500 issues each, but some years later became ...

''. She was a member of the Academia Colombiana de la Lengua and the

Real Academia Española The Royal Spanish Academy (, ; ) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other Hispanopho ...

. In 2018, the award Premio Nacional de Narrativa Elisa Mújica was created in order to recognize the work of unpublished female authors and to honor her 100th birth anniversary.

Career

She worked as an assistant at the Ministry of Communications. Later, between 1936 and 1943, she worked as the personal secretary of future President of Colombia

Carlos Lleras Restrepo Carlos Alberto Lleras Restrepo (12 April 1908 – 27 September 1994) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served the 22nd President of Colombia from 1966 to 1970. Biographic data Lleras was born in Bogotá, on 12 April 1908. He was th ...

. During these days, she was close to the Grupo Bachué, one of the most important artistic avant-garde movements in Colombia. Later, she worked at the Quito Embassy between 1943 and 1945. She published her novel ''Los dos tiempos'' in 1949. She lived in Spain in the 1950s and was an influence to her niece, the poet and journalist

María Mercedes Carranza María Mercedes Carranza (24 May 1945 – 11 July 2003) was a poet and journalist from Bogotá, Colombia, who spent most of her childhood in Spain. Biography Early life Carranza was the second child of Rosa Coronado and poet . She was one o ...

. In Ecuador she had met members from El grupo de Guayaquil and become a supporter of

marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

and

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. However, she was also interested in figures such as Sor Teresa de Jesús and Sor Francisca Josefa del Castillo. In 1964 she wrote the essay ''La aventura demorada. Ensayo sobre santa Teresa de Jesús.'' She also received a special recognition by the Premio Esso for her novel ''Catalina'' in 1962. In the 1980s, Mújica was a member of the Academia Colombiana de la Lengua and the

Published works

Novels

* ''Los dos tiempos'', 1949 * ''Catalina'', 1963 * ''Bogotá de las nubes'', 1984

Essays

* ''El Indio en América: síntesis de obras americanas sobre el problema indígena'', 1948 * ''La aventura demorada: ensayo sobre santa Teresa de Jesús'', 1951 * ''La Candelaria'', 1974 * ''Introducción a Santa Teresa'', 1981 * ''Las altas torres del humo: raíces del cuento popular en Colombia'', 1985 * ''Sor Francisca Josefa de Castillo'', 1991

Short stories

* ''Ángela y el diablo'', 1953 * ''Árbol de ruedas'', 1972 ** "Prólogo"; "La Montaña"; "Las reclusas"; "La biblioteca"; "La acacia"; "El visitante"; "El espejo y el rubí"; "El aeropuerto"; "La palmera"; "La perla"; "El documento"; "La silla giratoria"; "El retrato" * ''La tienda de las imágenes'', 1987 * ''Cuentos'', 2009

Children's literature

* ''La Expedición Botánica contada a los niños'', 1978 * ''Bestiario'', 1980 * ''Pequeño Bestiario'', 1990 * ''Las casas que hablan: guía histórica del barrio de la Candelaria de Santa Fé de Bogotá'', 1994 * ''Cuentos para niños de La Candelaria'', 1997

Autobiography

* ''Diario: 1968–1971'', 2008

Criticism

* ''Reminiscencias de Santafé de Bogotá, de José María Cordovez Moure'', Aguilar, 1957

Awards and recognition

* "Tribute of admiration" from the jury of the 1962 Esso Literature Prize, for her novel ''Catalina''

References

External links

Review of the novel ''Catalina''
at

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Portal {{DEFAULTSORT:Mujica, Elisa 1918 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Colombian poets 21st-century Colombian poets Colombian women poets People from Bucaramanga 20th-century Colombian women writers 21st-century Colombian women writers Colombian children's writers