María Elena Walsh

Argentine author and composer

María Elena Walsh is remembered for writing that changed what came after it.

The record lists María Elena Walsh as Argentine author and composer.

María Elena Walsh was born in 1930. Her recorded nationality is Argentina.

Twentieth-century writing was shaped by war, exile and translation; many of its major careers were conducted across more than one language and country.

She worked as writer, screenwriter and journalist.

The writing is recorded in Spanish and English.

Her best-known work is Como la cigarra. Reputation in letters is unusually volatile: writers are forgotten for a generation and then recovered by one.

The honours record reads: Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts (2010).

That the work was written from Argentina matters: language, censorship and the reach of a publishing industry decide which books travel and which stay local.

María Elena Walsh died in 2011, aged 81. The books remain, which is the only durable form a writing life takes.

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