Gloria Fuertes
Gloria Fuertes was a prominent Spanish poet and children's writer born in Madrid on July 28, 1918. Growing up in a financially struggling household, she faced significant personal challenges, including the loss of her mother and the impact of the Spanish Civil War. Despite these hardships, Fuertes began writing poetry at a young age, characterized by informal language and themes of love, death, and humor. She gained recognition in the literary world through her children's stories and poetry, co-founding a women's literary group in 1947 and publishing her first collection, "Isla ignorada," in 1950. Fuertes's career flourished as she wrote extensively for both children and adults, producing numerous works throughout her life. She also spent time in the United States as a Fulbright fellow, further enriching her literary contributions. Throughout her later years, Fuertes became a well-known figure on Spanish television, continuing to engage with her audiences until her death on November 27, 1998. Her legacy is marked by her dedication to accessible writing, rejecting elitism in favor of a relatable style that resonates with both children and adults.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Gloria Fuertes
Writer
- Born: July 28, 1918
- Birthplace: Madrid, Spain
- Died: November 27, 1998
- Place of death: Madrid, Spain
Biography
Gloria Fuertes was born in Madrid on July 28, 1918. Her father worked as a porter and her mother as a servant. She grew up in a poor neighborhood, and at fourteen she enrolled in the Institute for the Professional Education of Women, a trade school where she learned cooking, sewing, and childcare. In 1934, her mother died, and soon after, a young man Fuertes loved disappeared in the Spanish civil war. The twin tragedies in young Fuertes’s life profoundly affected her as a writer.
With the death of her mother, Fuertes was forced to take a job in a factory. At the same time, however, she began writing poetry. Her early poems were characterized by the use of informal language and word play; thematically, she wrote about love, death, and suffering, but always with humor and irony. In 1935 Fuertes published her first poems and gave her first public poetry readings on Radio Madrid.
Driven by financial need, in 1939 she submitted a children’s story to a large publisher who then hired her to work as an editor. From 1940 through 1955 she wrote weekly stories for a children’s magazine. Fuertes continued to write serious poetry for adults as well. She cofounded a women’s group called Versos con Faldas in 1947; the group organized poetry readings in cafes and bars in Madrid. In 1950, the first collection of her poetry, Isla ignorada (unknown island) was published. She created and directed the poetic journal Arquero from 1950 to 1954. In addition, she published three books of poetry during the 1950’s. Again, these poems were largely autobiographical in subject and antielitist in tone.
From 1955 to 1960, Fuertes studied library science and English. She worked briefly as a librarian before being awarded a Fulbright fellowship to teach classes in Spanish literature at Bucknell University, Mary Baldwin College, and Bryn Mawr College in the United States. She remained in the United States from 1961 to 1963. Throughout the 1960’s, Fuertes continued to write and grow as a poet, and her efforts resulted in five more volumes as well as an anthology of her work.
In the 1970’s she returned to writing children’s literature. This allowed her to turn to writing full time; her royalties and a fellowship provided adequate support. She continued to write both children’s books and volumes of poetry for the rest of her life. Fuertes died in Madrid on November 27, 1998. She received many honors in her life, including a Guipuzcoa poetry prize in 1966, a Premio Vizcaya in 1969, a Premio Lazarilla in 1968, and a fellowship for children’s writing. Into her seventies, Fuertes worked actively on children’s programming for Spanish television. Fuertes’s achievements as a writer are divided between her work for children and her poetry. In both cases, she rejected artistic elitism and chose instead to write in a plain, colloquial manner. She received considerable acclaim in her later years, and her face became a familiar one on Spanish television.