Guest of the ilb 2007
Piedad Bonnett was born in
Amalfi, in the Colombian province of Antioquia, in 1951. She grew up in
the capital Bogotá as of the age of eight and studied philosophy and
philology at the Universidad de los Andes and later at the Escuela de
Investigación Lingüística y Literaria in Madrid. At the Universidad
Nacional de Colombia, where she later taught, she specialized in art
theory and architecture. She has been teaching as literature professor
at the Universidad de los Andes since 1981.
Bonnett is best known as a poet
in her native country and beyond its borders. In clear language with
ironic and sentimental echoes, in her work she mainly explores the
subjects of love and the harsh realities of life in Colombia. A typical
example, which evokes devotion, doubt and commitment through the key
words »truth« and »lies«, presents the title-giving poem of her
award-winning first volume of poems, »De círculo y ceniza« (1989; t: Of
circle and ashes). »Your mouth is capable of the whole truth / Of the
whole truth and of lies«, it reads. Five further individual volumes
were to follow – »Ese animal triste« (1996; t: That sad animal) and
»Todos los amantes son guerreros« (1998; t: All lovers are warriors)
are especially symbolic titles – and four selected volumes. Her poems
have also been included in many anthologies.
Bonnett’s first novel, »Depués
de todo« (2001; t: After everything), tells of a woman, no longer
young, who feels tied down by her marriage, child and home.
Dissatisfied, she decides to leave her husband but ends up staying with
him when he becomes in need of care and she, meanwhile, is abandoned by
her lover. When a young nurse is employed, she develops an overwhelming
obsession with this unconventional woman. Bonnett’s second novel, »Para
otros es el cielo« (2004; t: Heaven is for others), revolves around a
left-wing intellectual who has withdrawn from his political life into
academia. In spite of what is described as flight from the practical
implementation of his ideals, he is cared for selflessly by his wife
and his lover.
Bonnett’s works include plays
that have been performed at the Teatro Libre in Bogotá, translations
from English, the book of interviews »Imaginación y oficio« (2003; t:
Imagination and calling) which contains her conversations with five
Colombian poet colleagues, and a dictionary of the most important
concepts of her Nobel Prize-winning fellow countryman, »El mundo según
García Márquez« (2005; t: The world according to García Márquez). Her
poems and essays have appeared in different international newspapers. A
third novel is forthcoming later this year. Bonnett lives in Bogotá.
© international literature festival berlin
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