Carmen Marai is the nom de plume of Carmen María Bassa Rodríguez, a Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an poet

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 and novelist.

Writing

The central themes in her poems are primarily sorrow, betrayal, a mother's love, the struggle for life, and anti-violence, though she has also written humorous works. Her novels, a blend of historic fact and politics with the supernatural, do not necessarily fall into the category of magical realism in that the fantastical elements are not presented as normal occurrences, but fall upon the realm of the real from identifiably unnatural sources.

Her work will at times intertwine religious and mythical motifs with unconventional interpretations.

In June 2009, after the protests and political flurry of the Iranian elections, Marai vocally supported the newly created Iranian Green Movement

Green Movement

The Green Movement refers to a series of actions after the 2009 Iranian presidential election, in which protesters demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office...

, writing her poem Llamas Verdes (Green Flames). She also played a significant role in the translation into Spanish of a 2009 online graphic novel

Persepolis 2.0

Persepolis 2.0 is a 2009 online graphic novel created by Iranian-born artists Payman and Sina whose main subjects are the recent re-elections of conservative Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the social turmoil that followed it...

 created by Iranian-born artists Payman and Sina.

Early life

Bassa was born in the major port of San Antonio, Chile

San Antonio, Chile

San Antonio, meaning "Saint Anthony", is a major Chilean port and a commune in San Antonio Province, Valparaíso Region...

, but spent much of her youth in the capital,
Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

. She is of Catalan

Catalan people

The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...

 and Mallorca

Mallorca

Majorca or Mallorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the Balearic Islands.The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca...

n descent, her mother being one the of Winnipeg

Winnipeg (ship)

SS Winnipeg was a French steamer notable for arriving at Valparaíso, Chile, on 3 September 1939, with 2,200 Spanish immigrants aboard. The refugees were fleeing Spain after Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War...

 refugees of the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

.
She attended the Primary schools Sara Cruchaga and Las Carmelitas.

She and both her siblings, Jaime and Montserrat, displayed precociousness in languages and the liberal arts, though she was the only one to later pursue a literary career. Her brother later became a commercial engineer

Business engineering

Business Engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex businesses should be designed and managed.- Overview :...

 and her sister became a lawyer,
currently in the Senate of Chile

Senate of Chile

The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile.-Composition:...

.

Personal life

In the mid-sixties, she married the engineer Rafael Mercado Aced, after which the newly wed couple moved among several small cities of the Norte Chico

Norte Chico, Chile

The Norte Chico is one of the five natural regions on which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. Its northern border is formed by the limit with the Far North, on west lies the Pacific Ocean, by the east the Andes mountains and Argentina, and by the south the Zona Central natural region...

, later settling in the capital, Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

.

After the arrival of the Unidad Popular and the unrest of this period, they decided to emigrate with their daughter to the
United States, where they lived for several years. The marriage ultimately broke up there and she returned with her child to Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, where she began her literary pursuits in earnest, joining the Sociedad de Escritores de Chile. She currently resides in Santiago.