Gioconda Belli was born in Managua, Nicaragua. She has received international awards such as Premio Mariano Fiallos Gil; Premio Casa de las Américas; Premio Internacional Generación del 27; Premio Internacional Ciudad de Melilla. Her first novel, La mujer habitada (1988), which was translated into fourteen languages and sold more than one million copies, was given Premio de los Bibliotecarios, Editores y Libreros as the best detective story of the year, and Anna Seghers Award from the German Academy of Arts. She wrote Sofía de los presagios (1990); Waslala (1996); El pergamino de la seducción (2005); El infinito en la palma de la mano (2008); El país de las mujeres (2010); El intenso calor de la luna (2014); as well as an autobiographic novel El país bajo mi piel (2001) and two tales for young adults, El taller de las mariposas (2004) and El apretado abrazo de la enredadera (2006). La prima risata (El arbor de la risa) is her last children’s picture book.
Photo © Charles Castaldi.
