Daniel Sada
Encyclopedia
Daniel Sada was a Mexican
poet journalist and author whose work has being hailed as one of the most important contributions to the Spanish language
. He has organised many poetry
workshop
s in Mexico City
and several other cities. He was granted a scholarship by the INBA and FONCA
and, since 1994, is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte. His novels stand out for their internal rhythm and unorthodox use of archaic
metric forms and colloquialisms. His work has been described as baroque
and tragicomic. Author Juan Villoro
stated: "He renewed the Mexican novel with Because it seems to be a lie, the truth is never known" and, according to cult
writer Roberto Bolaño
: "Daniel Sada is undoubtly writing one of the most ambitious works in the Spanish language
". Rafael Lemus says: "Sada...is one of the most extreme reformers of the (Spanish) language, the boldest among Mexicans". In 2008 he won the prestigious Herralde Prize for his novel Almost Never. He has also won the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize in 1992 and the Jose Fuentes Mares National Literature Prize in 1999. His works have been translated into English
, German
, French
, Dutch
, Bulgarian
and Portuguese
. In 2011 he was awarded Mexico's prestigious National Prize for Arts and Sciences in the Literature category. Just hours after being presented the prize, Sada died at age 58 from a years-long struggle with kidney disease.
and Spanish literature
in Sacramento, Coahuila
devouring the works of Dante
and Ovid
. He has described his early influences and his first contacts with literature and the metric structures he admired: "I have a deep knowledge, from childhood, of the most elemental constructions of these metric forms, so characteristic of Spanish. In my primary school in Sacramento, Coahuila, Panchita Cabrera, a rural schoolteacher who was an ardent fan of the Spanish Golden Age
(a type that no longer exists) taught us these phonetic techniques with one goal in mind: that we might fine-tune our ears in order to appreciate the expressive delicacy and virulence of our language". He has been professor at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas
, The Hispanic Academy of San Miguel de Allende
and the school of journalism Carlos Setién Garcia.
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
poet journalist and author whose work has being hailed as one of the most important contributions to the Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. He has organised many poetry
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...
workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
s in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
and several other cities. He was granted a scholarship by the INBA and FONCA
FONCA
The National Fund for Culture and Arts is a public agency of the Mexican federal government, attached to the National Council for Culture and the Arts ....
and, since 1994, is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte. His novels stand out for their internal rhythm and unorthodox use of archaic
Archaism
In language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula...
metric forms and colloquialisms. His work has been described as baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
and tragicomic. Author Juan Villoro
Juan Villoro
Juan Villoro is a Mexican writer and journalist. He has been well known among intellectual circles in Mexico, Latin America and Spain for years, but his success among the readers grew since receiving the Herralde Prize for his novel El testigo.-Biography:Juan Villoro received his bachelor's degree...
stated: "He renewed the Mexican novel with Because it seems to be a lie, the truth is never known" and, according to cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
writer Roberto Bolaño
Roberto Bolaño
Roberto Bolaño Ávalos was a Chilean novelist and poet. In 1999 he won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for his novel Los detectives salvajes , and in 2008 he was posthumously awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for his novel 2666, which was described by board member Marcela Valdes...
: "Daniel Sada is undoubtly writing one of the most ambitious works in the Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
". Rafael Lemus says: "Sada...is one of the most extreme reformers of the (Spanish) language, the boldest among Mexicans". In 2008 he won the prestigious Herralde Prize for his novel Almost Never. He has also won the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize in 1992 and the Jose Fuentes Mares National Literature Prize in 1999. His works have been translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
. In 2011 he was awarded Mexico's prestigious National Prize for Arts and Sciences in the Literature category. Just hours after being presented the prize, Sada died at age 58 from a years-long struggle with kidney disease.
Early life
Sada was born in Mexicali in 1953. He studied journalismJournalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and Spanish literature
Spanish literature
Spanish literature generally refers to literature written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the state of Spain...
in Sacramento, Coahuila
Sacramento, Coahuila
Sacramento is a city in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila.The city serves as the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of the same name....
devouring the works of Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
and Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
. He has described his early influences and his first contacts with literature and the metric structures he admired: "I have a deep knowledge, from childhood, of the most elemental constructions of these metric forms, so characteristic of Spanish. In my primary school in Sacramento, Coahuila, Panchita Cabrera, a rural schoolteacher who was an ardent fan of the Spanish Golden Age
Spanish Golden Age
The Spanish Golden Age is a period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain, coinciding with the political rise and decline of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. El Siglo de Oro does not imply precise dates and is usually considered to have lasted longer than an actual century...
(a type that no longer exists) taught us these phonetic techniques with one goal in mind: that we might fine-tune our ears in order to appreciate the expressive delicacy and virulence of our language". He has been professor at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas
Autonomous University of Zacatecas
The Autonomous University of Zacatecas is a Mexican public university based in the city of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, but with several campuses across the state....
, The Hispanic Academy of San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende is a city and municipality located in the far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is 274 km from Mexico City and 97 km from the state capital of Guanajuato...
and the school of journalism Carlos Setién Garcia.
Short stories
- Un rato (UAM-I, 1985)
- Juguete de nadie y otras historias (FCEFondo de Cultura EconómicaFondo de Cultura Económica is the most important publishing house in Mexico and one of the most important ones in Latin America. It was originally established in 1934 by Daniel Cosío Villegas as a way to provide students of economics with books in Spanish on the subject...
, Letras Mexicanas, 1985) - Los siete pecados capitales (colectivo), (CONACULTA/INBA/SEP, 1989)
- Registro de causantes (Joaquín Mortíz, 1990)
- Tres historias (UAM/Juan Pablos/CNCA/INBA/Cuadernos del Nigromante, 1991)
- Antología presentida (Conaculta, 1993)
- Todo y la recompensa. Cuentos completos (Debate, 2002)
- Ese modo que colma (Anagrama)
Novels
- Lampa vida (Premiá Editora, 1980)
- Albedrío (Leega Literaria, 1989, Tusquets, 2001)
- Una de dos (Alfaguara, 1994, Tusquets, 2002)
- Porque parece mentira la verdad nunca se sabe (Tusquets, 1999).
- Luces artificiales (Joaquín Mortiz, 2002)
- Ritmo delta (Planeta Mexicana, 2005)
- La duración de los empeños simples (Joaquín Mortiz, 2006).
- Almost Never (Casi nunca) (Anagrama, 2008).
- A la vista (Anagrama, 2011).
Poetry
- Los lugares (UAM, La Rosa de los Vientos, 1977).
- El amor es cobrizo (Ediciones Sin Nombre, 2005).
- Aquí (FCE, 2008).
Prizes
- 1992 - Xavier Villaurrutia AwardXavier Villaurrutia AwardThe Xavier Villaurrutia Award is a prestigious literary prize given in Mexico, to a Latin American writer published in Mexico. Founded in 1955, it was named in memory of Xavier Villaurrutia....
, for Registro de causantes. - 1999 - Premio Nacional de Literatura José Fuentes Mares, for Porque parece mentira la verdad nunca se sabe.
- 2006 - Premio Nacional de Narrativa Colima para Obra Publicada, for Ritmo Delta.
- 2008 - Premio Herralde de Novela, for Casi nunca.
Films based on his fiction
- 2004 - Una de dos. Directed by Marcel Sisniega.
- 2007 - El Guapo. Directed by Marcel Sisniega (based on Luces artificiales).
External links
- Daniel Sada at Club Cultura
- Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Daniel Sada