We invite you to know in this blog, the interesting Biography of Laura Restrepo, writer of Colombian origin, who has mixed her journalistic research work, politics and her own experiences, to be reflected in such literary works. Don't stop reading.
Table of Contents
Biography of Laura Restrepo
Laura Restrepo Casabianca, born in Bogotá on January 1, 1950, is a Colombian writer and journalist.
She is the daughter of Fernando Restrepo, her father, a businessman, and Helena Casabianca, her mother. Her son Pedro Sabouard who came into the world in 1980.
He studied philosophy and letters at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, and then did a postgraduate degree in political science.
It appears settled in the biography of Laura Restrepo, who, once she received her degree, worked as a professor in the subject of literature, at the Universidad Nacional and del Rosario, sharing her work as a teacher with her profession as a journalist, in media outlets such as Semana , where he met Gabriel García Márquez.
His narration style is based on traditional affinities, categories and concepts, journalistic investigation that adds a fusion between journalism and his own experiences, with intense narrations that generally unfold in his native Colombia.
Since her childhood she was attracted to writing, when she was only nine years old, she wrote her first story, referring to "a tragedy about poor peasants". After 25 years passed, it was when she dedicated herself seriously to what would be her main profession.
Biography of Laura Restrepo and her childhood:
«I had a very happy childhood, in a family nucleus: my father, my mother and my sister. Full of travel, very nomadic, we were always traveling everywhere.
My father did not believe in conventional education, so my mother put us in schools and my father took us out. He was always worried that we read, that we got to know the museums, the concerts... it was a very free and very happy childhood».
In addition to writing novels, he wrote essays and a children's book. His literary works have been translated into different languages.
Restrepo comments that as he writes he is closer to the presence of his deceased father, as well as to be closer to his relatives murdered in the fiercest time Colombia has had.
She has worked as a journalist, as well as being active in politics. She made a significant intervention during the negotiation process with the war, being chosen by the Belisario Betancourt government to participate in the negotiating commission with the M-19 rebel movement.
It says in the biography of Laura Restrepo, that it was an experience where she prepared and released, after three years, the report Historia de un enthusiasm, after its publication she was threatened with death, causing her to be in exile, in the countries: Mexico and Spain, which later returned when the April 19 Movement (M-19) was legal.
During the five years he was in exile, he managed to maintain new relations with the guerrilla group M-19, and in 1989, the organization left its weapons behind.
In Laura Restrepo's biography, she presents herself as a woman with leftist thinking, she sponsors the chances of Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian revolution, she detests the nationalist aversions that are often carried out in Bogotá, and many others in the city of Caracas, He also has a firm conviction in the project of socialism called the XNUMXst century.
He currently lives in Mexico with his partner who is a native of that nation, he still has his own home in the city of Bogotá.
Biography of Laura Restrepo, school and youth
In the biography of Laura Restrepo, she points out that she is the daughter of a father, who had to leave her studies behind only when she was 13 years old, to dedicate herself to the labor field, she also did not believe that the teaching of the schools were the best , his opinion was due to the fact that his training was self-educated, he was literary, as well as being perfectly fluent in 6 languages, without ever having existed in any educational institution.
Laura Restrepo did not usually attend classes in schools, because her father, being a great businessman, traveled all over the world and took his family with him wherever he had to go.
Due to the lifestyle he led, he never managed to complete a year of studies at the same educational institution.
So, it was in this way that he came to attend schools in California, in a town known as Corte de Madera, he reached the record of attending classes only 1 day, because the next day of classes his family would have to travel .
In Denmark, he attended a specialist ceramics school. While in Madrid, the school where she applied, she was not accepted because she failed the grammar, math, sewing and embroidery admission tests, being subjects classified as essential requirements to study during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
Despite the fact that Laura's father maintained a negative concept about teaching in traditional schools, he felt great enthusiasm and passion for education, so he did not stop taking his family to visit different museums, theaters and other places. ruined spaces that mark history.
Once she returned to her native Colombia, Laura Restrepo, who was fifteen years old, took steps at the Ministry of Education, with the aim of validating high school studies, which would allow her to study at the University.
Biography of Laura Restrepo and the University
Laura Restrepo's biography indicates that she received a degree in Philosophy and Letters at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá, immediately afterwards she continued studying a postgraduate degree in Political Science; she served as a teacher at the Santa Helena School.
Over time, she worked as a professor of Literature at the Universidad Nacional y del Rosario, however, she dedicated herself to the revolution in Colombia.
Politics and journalism
The biography of Laura Restrepo tells about her participation in the world of politics, which originated in Colombia, which later continued in Spain in the Socialist Workers Party, ending in Argentina, working with the resistance against the military government. .
After the death of his father, it caused him a great shock in the existence of Laura Restrepo. Her father, being a strict and controlling man, did not like that her daughter was curious about some facts in the world.
However, Laura decides to take her own path, to which she comments:
"Say goodbye to your father and never see him again."
After the absence of his father who had passed away, he began his activities to introduce himself into political issues, with special emphasis on socialist policies.
It tells the biography of Laura Restrepo, who in this aspect of politics became an active person, being an active subject during the 60s. She maintained influences in the Cuban Revolution, along with Camilo Torres, a revolutionary priest of Colombian origin, and college students.
Laura Restrepo, observing poverty, I do not stop feeling pain, as well as injustice, inequality, and abuses of power where the most needy people were immersed.
He began to pursue a career in journalism, once he returned to Colombia, after working consecutively for three years in Madrid, in the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, PSOE, and after a time of political activism against the military dictatorship that he lived Argentina.
Laura has enough participatory experience in political movements and journalism activities. This aspect can be clearly evidenced in her different literatures. Among her political activism activities, the following countries are the main scenario: Colombia, Spain and Argentina. She is not afraid of moving to high-risk territories, and many of them in political battles.
In her biography, Laura Restrepo reveals that among her travels, when she arrived in Granada to cover the invasion events, she still visited the border between Nicaragua and Honduras, where she stayed for a month, to obtain information that would allow her to write about of the war between the Sandinistas and the Contras.
While working as a journalist, she served in Cromos Magazine, she was also editor of Semana magazine, collaborating in the national and international politics section. She as well as a columnist in the newspaper La Jornada and in the Revista Proceso in Mexico.
While working for these companies, he meets the great literary Gabriel García Márquez, who was part of the partners of this magazine at that time.
The writer Márquez supports Laura Restrepo, giving her recommendations on how to capture her ideas in the best way.
In 1983, and at the request of the government of Belisario Betancur, he is a member of the Commission for Peace, Dialogue and Verification, to negotiate and reconcile with the rebel movement M-19.
In the development of this event, she is involved in facts of care, that at the request of the same M-19, she was forced to emigrate.
Laura Restrepo, while testifying for an interview, comments verbatim:
"I was very close to the militants and leaders of the M-19, who were assassinated during the peace process."
It is an experience that was captured three years later in his first work, known as Historia de un enthusiasm.
Being one of the first times in which social and political agreements were used to reconcile and achieve an agreement with the guerrillas. There is much opposition in the ways of solving the problems, however, it is noted that great support persists.
Laura Restrepo's biography also points out that it is a woman who marked the center of social movements, which occurs at the moment she leaves journalism to focus with great efforts on negotiations.
Laura, during her political activism, is the victim of strong threats against her life, for which she is forced to be in exile for six years.
In his years of exile he lived in Mexico, where he worked and collaborated as a columnist in the newspaper known as "La Jornada", and in the magazine "Proceso", of course.
"Always working for the M-19, making trips to Spain, Central America, France to try to reopen a negotiation process."
In 1989, it terminated its activities, once the M-19 movement decided to lay down its arms, transforming itself into a legal opposition party.
Laura Restrepo, lived in Argentina for some years, especially in the years of the dictatorship of the Socialist Workers Party.
He began his militancy in Trotskyism, a trend within Marxism developed largely by Leon Trotsky, once he was at the National University.
«a very politicized place, it was the time of the Cuban revolution, May 68, the peasant movement in Colombia, it was almost unavoidable to enter into that euphoria… the Latin American boom, closely linked to all these processes of social renewal.
That's where I entered Trotskyism. At first I had no idea, I got in because one of the leaders was reading In Search of Lost Time and it seemed to me that this was my place. It was not a bad criterion to choose….”
During his stay in Argentina, he also gave his support for the fight for human rights, and participated collaborating with the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, and with the relatives of those who disappeared during the dictatorship.
She remained in Argentina for three years, and one in Córdoba, where she gave birth to her son Pedro Sabouard, whose father is an Argentine citizen.
Literary race
His first work, it is a story, "a tragedy of poor peasants", with lyrics in the form of doodles that he captured in one of his notebooks, he wrote it when he was barely nine years old.
Laura's family maintains that her father always maintained the certainty that one day his daughter would end up as a writer.
Due to the death of her father, he was the one who enlightened her by inspiring her, with all the strength, dedication and seriousness that she deserves to dedicate herself to the activities of a playwright.
Laura Restrepo explains that an activity that she performs largely because of the love she feels for her father and in honor of his memory.
In Laura Restrepo's biography, it appears that the writers who marked great influence and inspiration, in addition to being her father's favorites, are found: the Americans William Saroyan and John Steinbeck and the Greek Nikos Kazantzakis.
In his native Colombia, he began his work as a journalist for the magazine Semana, in the national section, and on some occasions on international politics.
She was sent as a special journalist to Nicaragua and Honduras to cover and report war events between the Sandinistas and the contras.
Fortunately, through her participation in the magazine, Laura Restrepo has the opportunity to meet Gabriel García Márquez, who was one of the main authors who influenced her life as a writer, he supported her by reading all the articles she wrote, while he gave her the best advice.
Quotes
“What the words mean and what is achieved by their conduct is a commitment made to the symbolism behind each one; a commitment that aims to rescue the dignity of the human being»
~ Laura Restrepo
Literary works
Laura Restrepo, dedicated to her work as a writer, has captured in her own handwriting, many charming works that keep the reader attentive in knowing the story she wants to convey, among which are:
Novels
In the genre of novels, the writer Laura Restrepo has captured the following:
Year 1989
The island of passion
Year 1993
Leopard in the sun
Year 1995
Sweet company
Year 1999
The dark bride
Year 2001
The wandering crowd
Year 2002
Smell of invisible roses
Year 2004
Delirium
Year 2009
Too many heroes
Year 2012
Hot south
Year 2017
The Divines
Tales
Of his written stories, mention is made:
Year 2016
Sin
Love without feet or head
The Syriac
elephant hair
Cute and bad, that doll
The Susanas in their paradise
The promise
Other children's
In this genre for children, you will find:
Year 1989
Story of an enthusiasm
cows eat spaghetti
Year 1991
The island of passion
Year 1993
At what point was Medellin screwed up?
reports
Year 1986
Colombia, history of a tradition, which was reissued in 1995, as History of an enthusiasm
Others
Year 1988
Operación Príncipe, testimony co-written with Roberto Bardini and Miguel Bonasso.
Plots of his novels
In this segment of the article, we will give you roughly information about his literary works, namely:
the island of passion
Narrated by the author in 1989. It all begins on a desolate island in the outskirts of Mexico. She develops her Mexican history and culture, because at that time she lived in the Aztec country, although the writer Restrepo, at that time, was not very happy with her stay in the place.
However, at some point she realized that she was in a charming country, which motivated her to capture a new literary work.
The novel tells about a story of some Mexican soldiers, who together with their relatives find themselves on a desolate island and try to survive.
The main characters of his work are women who are described as heroines and are described as "intelligent and insightful" feminine.
With amendment requested. The literary work Isla de Pasión is a story that deals with exile, a love story and the emphasis on power as a narrator.
Likewise, it can be appreciated for its "new historical" features, being for example its alibi anguish with the narration between history and fiction.
Laura Restrepo, uses part of her bibliography of certain of her literary works, which allow her to emphasize and confirm her events in the novels.
This literary work obtained great success and prestige in Hispanic countries, once its publication was launched, however, it did not cause any impact abroad, until its tradition in English was carried out.
Leopard in the Sun
The writer Laura Restrepo, shapes this novel in 1993, after spending eleven years researching on the subject, comes to crystallize the present work.
It is a literary work, which is based on the events that occurred at that time in his native country, such as drug conflicts, and vast investigation of "real events", dares to capture a true work of art.
It is a novel, which results from a creation qualified as
It is a brutal novel that uses very crude language.
The fact that there are women, who play an important role, and also serve as "protectors of their husbands and children", within the work.
The central theme of the literary work is based on physical and psychological violence, hoping to fight against drug trafficking in Colombia.
However, since this literary work is based on the fight against drugs, it is very significant that the author Laura Restrepo never uses the word "drug", because she comments that "She is convinced that all all readers read between the lines."
Sweet company
It is a work that unfolds in Colombia, appears in 1995, and confronts two worlds, the functional capital of the protagonist with that of a needy neighborhood, full of witchcraft.
It is a literary work, which is based on segregated women who do not have the right to "protect themselves", in addition to exploring issues of exploitation, "the abuse that poor women are subjected to, by the leaders of religious entities", above the problems and distinction of classes.
The main character of the play is called "La Mona". She narrates about her journeys in the neighborhoods of Bogotá, which she does to investigate "the appearance of an angel", and her rape by a priest, who sells and leads to the disappearance of her child after the death. birth of him.
The literary work, reached a good critic, and has obtained two prizes.
The dark bride
It is a literary work, created by the author in 1999, it is the result of a meticulous journalistic investigation that the writer Restrepo carried out in a neighborhood where prostitutes live, it is a hidden place in the Colombian mountains.
The book refers to a series of events that are oriented in a chapter in the life of a woman named Sayonara, she is a prostitute who works in Colombia in the 40s.
It is a story, focused on the exploitation of women who suffer, due to treatment by the church, and also how a reporter is commissioned to investigate about a poor and neglected community.
Delirium
The literary work Delirio, was definitively glorified as a novelist, according to Nobel laureate José Saramago, president of the 2004 Alfaguara Prize jury, described it as a magnificent love novel, "novel", a milestone of fresh air.
It is a novel that amazes, for the “for the quality of the language and the narrative structures, which intersect harmoniously until the final climax"
In development of this story of love and madness, which has been set in the time of Colombia in the 90's, the decline of a society submerged in drug trafficking, and money laundering.
The writer Restrepo, uses elements of magical realism and the so-called sicaresque novel. She ended up appearing in the year 1995, geographically referring to Antioquia, starring assassins.
In this literary work, the writer Laura Restrepo, acts differently, because on this occasion instead of using a female reporter as she usually does in her first works, she personifies a male character, who "It is not about a journalist, but about a professor of literature”.
In this work, the person who narrates “he does not know and asks to try to know, he is the agent to rebuild».
The story to capture, is born with a man who is called Aguilar. While Agustina Londoño is the main character of the novel, she refers to a woman who comes from a high-society family and parents.
The woman is married to Aguilar, who is a university professor, who at the beginning of the play, arrives on a trip, and finds his wife in a terrible state.
Apparently his wife Agustina is not mentally well, she has completely lost her mind, but the reasons that have led her to this state of dementia are unknown.
Her husband, Aguilar, feels a great love for his wife, for which he loves her like the first day, still unaware of the cause that caused his wife's dementia, or "delirium", Aguilar, is dedicated to investigating what has led to his wife to this state of madness.
Among the investigations carried out by Aguilar, there may be elements that they attribute to his wife's family.
As he makes the respective inquiries, he gets to know the secrets that surround the family, and that have been preserved from generation to generation.
They deal with secrets from her childhood and her relatives, such as: her abortion, the mistreatment of her brother for having homosexual preferences, the relationships and business with Pablo Escobar, a character who also appears in the work, the hereditary aspects, the problems of dementia suffered by many of his relatives, and even suicide.
Too many heroes
Five years have passed, when Laura Restrepo, publishes the literary work Too many heroes, it is a novel, autographic of Lorenza and her son Mateo, who move to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in search of Ramón.
Ramón is a man, with whom he had had an affair, and from that love, he conceived a son named Mateo.
The event occurred during the time of the "dirty war" in Argentina, when both were passionate militants who were against the Videla dictatorship.
“The literary work that is published, entitled Too many heroes, by the Alfaguara publishing house, has a great similarity to reality, and in fact, it is the truth that she had to live, containing even the dark chapter.
It approaches with a certain softness, the problems that the parents who served in the military have to tell the story to their parents, express to them about that partner that at some point they had, and no longer have, it is an absent father or mother.
The intention that Laura Restrepo intends, with capturing this work, is “Remove the two rhetorics from history. On the one hand, literary rhetoric and, on the other hand, political rhetoric.»
Hot south
The literary work Hot sur, was written by Laura Restrepo, in 2012, being one of the most current that tells about the life of three Latin American women, and their life transformations once they arrive in the United States.
The character who stars in the work is a woman of Colombian origin, whose name is María Paz, who has emigrated to the United States. She is married to a white police officer, but she comes from a family of immigrants.
A sudden event occurs, where her husband is murdered, while the protagonist takes all the blame, which causes her to be illegally taken to prison.
As the events unfold, it seems that her husband had a link to arms distribution.
The protagonist María, aware that she is locked up in jail, runs into a lawyer who supports her and is released, however, later she must answer to the trial, but does not attend, to which she escapes.
Likewise, it is glimpsed that María had an affair with her husband's brother, but finally, the woman does not have a happy ending as she thought, surprisingly, she finds out that he is not only her brother, but her murderer.
It is a work, which contains many aspects about homicide, conflicts between families, a poor Latin American woman who pursues the American dream, but what she manages to do is face various problems in the United States, and as if that were not enough, she mixes love affairs.
The Divines
It is a literary work, which is based on an authentic case, which shook all of Colombia due to its barbarism.
The writer Laura Restrepo, is infused in the victim, inventing the characters involved. A young man who belongs to the high society of Colombia, is the cause, which causes the case to spread in the media.
The martyr, it is not about anyone important, however, it is after the murderer becomes important, after death, which represents a mockery.
In fact, in the work, a name is assigned to her because she will be the representative of thousands of women and girls who disappear daily in Colombia, and who with this narration are trying to recover from oblivion.
Likewise, the literary Laura Restrepo, with her work "The Divines", manages to make an X-ray of society, which creates and consents monstrosities, with the ability to perpetrate terrible indignities.
Awards & Accolades: Biography of Laura Restrepo
He also has to his credit his biography of Laura Restrepo, the awards he has received for his similar literary works mixed between journalistic investigations, politics and his own experiences.
Year 1997
Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz Award. International Book Fair of Guadalajara, for her work "Sweet Company"
Year 1998
Prix France Culture, awarded to the best foreign novel, “Sweet Company”, published in France
Year 2002
Archbishop Juan de Sanclemente Award.
High school students from Santiago de Compostela, awarded for the best novel in Spanish.
Year 2004
Alfaguara Novel Prize, for his novel “Delirio”
Year 2006
Grinzane Cavour Prize. For the best foreign novel published in Italy.
In addition to obtaining and deserving recognition throughout the Hispanic-American sphere.
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