Maria Luisa Puga
Encyclopedia
Maria Luisa Puga was a Mexican writer. Her 1983 novel Pánico o peligro won the Xavier Villaurrutia Award
.
. She and her siblings went to live with her grandmother in Acapulco when she was 9 years old, after the death of their mother. After her father’s second marriage, they moved to Mazatlán. When she was 24 years old, she traveled to both Europe
and Africa
(Nairobi
, Kenya
). After about a decade in Europe, María Luisa Puga returned to Mexico and published her first novel, Las Posibilidades del Odio (The Possibilities of Hate). There was a lot of critical attention about her first novel because of the comparison she made of Kenya
’s seventy-year struggle for a better future with the situation in Mexico.
Many critics remark that Puga’s work is simple storytelling; the simplicity of her writing is what gives it its charm. Common themes in Puga’s work include the socio-psychological makeup of the individual and history. She is said to examine the social situation in Mexico from the late 1960s to the present day by telling her own personal story. Political and social situations are reflected by how they affect the protagonists in the stories she writes.
The last years of her life she lived in Zirahuén, Michoacán
, Mexico, where she kept in touch with her Mexican culture. She was a coordinator of literary workshops around Mexico. María Luisa Puga died on December 25, 2004, in Mexico City.
Xavier Villaurrutia Award
The 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....
.
Biography
Puga was born in Mexico CityMexico 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...
. She and her siblings went to live with her grandmother in Acapulco when she was 9 years old, after the death of their mother. After her father’s second marriage, they moved to Mazatlán. When she was 24 years old, she traveled to both Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
(Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
). After about a decade in Europe, María Luisa Puga returned to Mexico and published her first novel, Las Posibilidades del Odio (The Possibilities of Hate). There was a lot of critical attention about her first novel because of the comparison she made of Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
’s seventy-year struggle for a better future with the situation in Mexico.
Many critics remark that Puga’s work is simple storytelling; the simplicity of her writing is what gives it its charm. Common themes in Puga’s work include the socio-psychological makeup of the individual and history. She is said to examine the social situation in Mexico from the late 1960s to the present day by telling her own personal story. Political and social situations are reflected by how they affect the protagonists in the stories she writes.
The last years of her life she lived in Zirahuén, Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
, Mexico, where she kept in touch with her Mexican culture. She was a coordinator of literary workshops around Mexico. María Luisa Puga died on December 25, 2004, in Mexico City.
Novels
- Las posibilidades del odio. México: Siglo XXI, 1978; 2nd edition: 1981; 3rd edition: Aldus-Conaculta, 2003.
- Cuando el aire es azul. México: Siglo XXI, 1980.
- Pánico o peligro. México, Siglo XXI, 1983. 2nd edition: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2002.
- La forma del silencio. México: Siglo XXI, 1987.
- Antonia. México: Grijalbo, 1989. 2nd edition: Ariadne: 1999; 3rd edition: Punto de Lectura, 2004.
- Las razones del lago. México/ Barcelona/ Buenos Aires: Grijalbo, 1991.
- La viuda. México: Grijalbo, 1994.
- La reina. México: Planeta Mexicana, 1995. (= Biblioteca Breve)
- Inventar ciudades. México: Alfaguara, 1998.
- Nueve madrugadas y media. México: Alfaguara, 2003.
- Diario del dolor. Mèxico: Alfaguara, 2004.
Collections of short stories
- Inmóvil sol secreto. México: La Máquina de Escribir, 1979.
- Accidentes. México: Martín Casillas, 1981.
- Intentos. México: Grijalbo, 1987.
- De intentos y accidentes. México: Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado, 2001.
Essays, chronicles and interviews
- La cerámica de Hugo X. Velázquez: cuando rinde el horno. México: Martín Casillas, 1983.
- Itinerario de palabras, together with Mónica Mansour. México: Folios Ediciones, 1987.
- De cuerpo entero (autobiography). México: UNAM/ECO, 1990.
- Ruptura y diversidad. México: Coordinación de Difusión Cultural, Dirección de Literatura, UNAM, 1990.
- Lo que le pasa al lector. México: Grijalbo, 1991 (= Narrativa Grijalbo).
- Crónicas de una oriunda del kilómetro X en Michoacán. México: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1995 (= Cuaderno de viaje).
- Diario del dolor. México: Alfaguara/Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana/Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 2004.
Children's literature
- El tornado. Illustrations by Rosario Valderrama. México: CIDCLI - LIMUSA, 1985 (= La Hormiga de Oro).
- Los tenis acatarrados. México: ECO, 1991.
- La ceremonia de iniciación. México: FCE, 1994 (= Travesías).
- A Lucas todo le sale mal. México: FCE, 2005 (= A la orilla del viento).
Selected criticism
- Bradu, Fabienne: Señas particulares: Escritoras (Ensayos sobre escritoras mexicanas del siglo XX). México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1987, 118-135. ISBN 968-16-2689-3 (Spanish)
- De Beer, Gabriella. Contemporary Mexican Women Writers: Five Voices. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996, 11-57. ISBN 0-292-71586-2
- López, Irma M.: Historia, escritura e identidad: la novelística de Maria Luisa Puga. New York / Vienna [etc.]: Peter Lang, 1996. (Wor(l)ds of change ; 23) ISBN 0-8204-3052-8 (Spanish)
- Pfeiffer, Erna: EntreVistas. Diez escritoras mexicanas desde bastidores. Frankfurt a.M.: Vervuert Verlag, 1992, 123-135. ISBN 3-89354-051-2 (Spanish)