Cartago, 1928 – San José (Costa Rica), 2012

Flávio Aguiar

A wide promoter of literature, she has developed a series of initiatives since the 1950s to increase the readership in her country, Costa Rica. She held various public positions, including that of Minister of Culture, and developed a sharp critical perspective on the Costa Rican middle class, which influenced the texture of her early poems collected in Canción de la ternura (1962). The publication of Los perros no ladran (1950) revitalized national literature, following the path laid out by pioneer Yolanda Oreamuno and echoing what is found in the works of Anacristina Rossi.

Circulating among various literary genres, Carmen Naranjo deepened linguistic research in novels such as El caso 117.720 (1987). Sensitive to the crisis of national values, she wrote En partes (1994), in which she explores identity issues. Alongside figures like Velma Pollard, a Jamaican poet and intellectual, she ranks among the Caribbean writers of international recognition. Other works include Diario de una multitud (1974) and Marina Jiménez de Bolandi: recordándola (2002).