José Gorostiza

José Gorostiza Alcalá (Villahermosa, Tabasco, November 10, 1901 — Mexico City, March 16, 1973) was a renowned Mexican poet, educator, and diplomat. For his achievements in the poetic arts he was made a member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua.

Political biography

José Gorostiza was born in the riverine city of Villahermosa, then known as San Juan Bautista, to Celestino Gorostiza and Elvira Alcalá de Gorostiza. His older brother Celestino would also become an important artist. He moved to Mexico City to attend the National Preparatory School and later the Colegio Francés de Mascarones. After graduating from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México he worked first as a professor at his alma mater and then at the National School of Teachers in 1932, after which followed a series of important administrative jobs in government: head of the Department of Fine Arts at the Secretariat of Public Education 1932-1935 and head of the Department of Publicity at the Secretariat of Foreign Relations 1935-1937. Subsequently he served in various diplomatic and ambassadorial capacities, including as Director General of Political Affairs at the Secretariat of Foreign Relations; Director General of the Diplomatic Service (Secretariat of Foreign Relations) 1944; Ambassador to Greece 1950-1951; Secretary of Foreign Relations 1964; head of the National Commission of Nuclear Energy 1965-1970.

Literary endeavors

From 1928-1931 he was part of the influential vanguardist group Los Contemporáneos, to which Jorge Cuesta, Salvador Novo, Gilberto Owen, Carlos Pellicer, Jaime Torres Bodet, and Xavier Villaurrutia also belonged. His literary output though meager was extremely rich in content; his first book of poetry, "Canciones para cantar en las barcas" (Songs to Sing on Boats), appeared in 1925. Then after a lull of fourteen years came what is considered his masterpiece, "Muerte Sin Fin" (Death without End). In 1964 he published "Poesía" (Poetry), a collection of his previously published work plus a section dedicated to unfinished pieces called "Del Poema Frustrado" (Of the Frustrated Poem). In 1969 he published a book of essays titled "Prosa".

On May 14, 1954 he was elected a member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua, at the occasion of which he read an essay entitled "Notas sobre poesía" (Notes on Poetry). On March 22, 1955 he became a numerary member of the same and held seat 25.

ee also

Rosario Castellanos;
Carlos Fuentes;
Octavio Paz;
Sergio Pitol;
Alfonso Reyes;

Awards

*Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes (1968)

Published works

(list not comprehensive)

*"Canciones para cantar en las barcas". 1925
*"Muerte Sin Fin". 1939
*"Poesía: Notas sobre poesía, Canciones para cantar en las barcas, Del poema frustrado, Muerte sin fin". 1964
*"Prosa". 1969
*"Epistolario, 1918-1940". (edited by Guillermo Sheridan) 1988
*"Poesía completa". (edited by Guillermo Sheridan) 1996

Bibliography

*(English) Camp, Roderic Ai, "Mexican political biographies, 1935-1993". The Hague: Mouton, 1993.
*(English) Cortés, Eladio, "Dictionary of Mexican Literature". Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992.
*(Spanish) Xirau, Ramón, "Tres poetas de la soledad". Mexico: Ant. Libr. Robredo, 1955.

External links

*(English) [http://www.geocities.com/poesiamsigloxx/gorostiz/gorosti2.html#Death Selections from "Death without End"]
*(Spanish) [http://www.e-mexico.gob.mx/wb2/eMex/eMex_Jose_Gorostiza José Gorostiza]
*(Spanish) [http://amediavoz.com/gorostiza.htm Selección de poemas]