Ulalume Gonzalez de Leon

Ulalume González de León (1928-2009) is the author of PLAGIOS/PLAGIARISMS, VOLUME ONE (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2020), translated by Terry Ehret, John Johnson, and Nancy J. Morales-- the first full-length English translation of her work. Ulalume González de León was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, the daughter of two poets, Roberto Ibañez and Sara de Ibañez. She studied literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Mexico. While living in Mexico in 1948, Ulalume became a...See more

Ulalume González de León (1928-2009) is the author of PLAGIOS/PLAGIARISMS, VOLUME ONE (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2020), translated by Terry Ehret, John Johnson, and Nancy J. Morales-- the first full-length English translation of her work. Ulalume González de León was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, the daughter of two poets, Roberto Ibañez and Sara de Ibañez. She studied literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Mexico. While living in Mexico in 1948, Ulalume became a naturalized Mexican citizen. She married painter and architect Teodoro González de León, and together they had three children. She published essays, stories, and poems, and worked with Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz as an editor of two literary journals, Plural and Vuelta. She also translated the work of H.D., Elizabeth Bishop, Ted Hughes, Lewis Carroll, and e.e. cummings. In the 1970's, González de León was part of a generation of Latin American women writers challenging the traditional definitions of women, marriage, and relationships. Her poetry earned her many awards, including the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize, the Flower of Laura Poetry Prize in 1979 and Alfonso X Prize. Octavio Paz called Ulalume Gonzá lez de León the best Mexicana poet since Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, recognizing the visionary quality of her work. Ulalume González de León died in 2009 of complications of Alzheimer's. See less