Gloria Dünkler (born 1977) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an writer, and winner of the 2016 Pablo Neruda Award. She is best known for her poetry, although she also collects folktales.

Biography

Gloria Dünkler was born into a large family of artisans, musicians, and fishermen. She studied Pedagogy in Language and Communication at the University of La Frontera in

Temuco Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The cit ...

, and graduated as a Spanish teacher and a licentiate in education in 2003. Later, in 2009, she qualified as a librarian at the

Metropolitan University of Technology Metropolitan University of Technology () is a university in Chile. It is part of the Chilean Traditional Universities In Chile, universidades tradicionales ("traditional universities") refer to universities founded before the 1980s. It usuall ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. The same year of her graduation as a teacher, she self-published her first book of poems, ''Quilaco seducido''. With the second, ''Füchse von Llafenko'' (), which was released by Ediciones Tácitas in 2009, she won her first major award, the Academy, given by the

Academia Chilena de la Lengua The Academia Chilena de la Lengua (Spanish for ''Chilean Language Academy'') is an association of academics and experts on the use of the Spanish language in Chile. It is a member of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language and is a pa ...

. The following collection of poems, ''Spandau'' (2012), consolidated her outstanding position in new poetry of her country by receiving the

Santiago Municipal Literature Award The Santiago Municipal Literature Award () is one of the oldest and most important literary awards in Chile Created in 1934 by the municipality of Santiago, its first edition awarded the categories of novel, poetry and theater (later to be renamed ...

. In 2015 Dünkler released her fourth poetry collection, ''Yatagán'', and the following year her poetic career was distinguished with the Pablo Neruda Award. Her poems, reviews, and conversations appear in the ''Daf-Brücke'' journals of the Association of German Professors (AGPA), Chile affiliate (Santiago, 2010), and in ''Nachrichten'' (Frankfurt, 2009). Texts of hers, along with those of other national poets, Polish and German, were part of the Poetry Bombings in

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in 2009 and in

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in 2010, organized by the collective Casagrande. Her poems have appeared in several anthologies, both in Chile (''Mujeres en la poesía chilena actual'', Semejanza, 2000) and in other countries (Argentina – ''Desde todo el silencio'', Los Puños de la Paloma, and ''Comer con la mirada'', Desde la Gente, both in 2008 – and Mexico, ''Doce en punto'',

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countries. It also has 34 ...

, 2012), and have been translated into German, Polish, and Catalan. She has participated in festivals representing Chile, such as the Larinale 2013 (Berlin) and the Festival of La Mar de Músicas 2015, in

Cartagena, Spain Cartagena () is a Spanish city belonging to the Region of Murcia. As of January 2018, it has a population of 218,943 inhabitants. The city lies in a natural harbor of the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. Cartage ...

. The theme of Dünkler's work deals mainly with the settlement of the first German colonists in

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

territory and the contrasts between both cultures and identities. She has participated in numerous literary contests and obtained important recognitions. Dünkler also collects folktales and has been a fellow of the workshop of writer

Pía Barros Pía Barros Bravo (born 20 January 1956) is a Chilean writer, best known for her short stories. She is associated with her country's literary Generation of '80. Biography Pía Barros left Melipilla, the city where she grew up, "without sorrow", t ...

. She resides in Santiago, where she works as a librarian at the Faculty of Sciences of the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, after her working day, she goes to

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

training at the Team Pardo gym. The poet, who claims not to drink or smoke, began to practice this sport for self-defense.

Works

* ''Quilaco seducido'', self-published, Pucón, 2003 * ''Füchse von Llafenko'' (''Zorros de Llafenko''), Ediciones Tácitas, Santiago, 2009 * ''Spandau'', Tácitas, 2012 * ''Yatagán'', Tácitas, 2015

Awards and recognitions

* First regional place in the 12th Contest of Stories and Tales of the Rural World (FUCOA), 2003 * Third place in the 3rd Rural World Poetry Contest, organized by the Agricultural Communication Foundation, Ministry of Agriculture (FUCOA), 2004 * First regional prize in the 13th Rural World Stories and Tales Contest (FUCOA), 2005 * First prize in the 2007 essay contest of the CFT-UTEM (

) * 2008 Los Puños de la Paloma Award (

Santa Fe, Argentina Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz (; usually called just Santa Fe, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city of the provinces of Argentina, province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe, Argentina. It is situated in north-eastern Argentina, near the junction of t ...

) * 2010 Academy Award for ''Füchse von Llafenko'' (

) * Honorable Mention for the 2010

for ''Füchse von Llafenko'' * Fellowship of the , 2011 * 2013 Critics' Award for ''Spandau'' * 2013 Santiago Municipal Literature Award for ''Spandau'' * Fellowship of the National Book and Reading Council, 2013 * 2016 Pablo Neruda Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunkler, Gloria 1977 births 21st-century Chilean poets Chilean women poets 21st-century Chilean women writers Chilean people of German descent Living people People from Cautín Province Academic staff of the University of Chile Chilean women librarians Chilean librarians University of La Frontera alumni