Clementina Suárez

The biography of a Honduran writer who defied conventions through her life and writing

Clementina Suárez (1902-1991), the legendary matriarch of Honduran letters, scandalized Central American society with her bohemian lifestyle, her passionate woman-centered poetry, and her dedicated and unconventional promotion of art and literature. This first biography of the notorious poet follows her life from the family home in an isolated rural province of Honduras to New York, Mexico, Cuba, and El Salvador, placing her in the company of some of the major figures of twentieth-century Latin American cultural and political life.

Using layers of rich sources--interviews with Suárez and her daughters and sisters conducted during a year's stay in Honduras, recollections and written tributes of friends and artists, and archival material from public and private collections in Central America—Janet Gold weaves together the story of a writer who stubbornly chose to live as she pleased, with a well-balanced discussion of the social and cultural climate of twentieth-century Central America. In Gold's words, she paints a portrait of "haciendas and cantinas, mule trips to Tegucigalpa, and poetry recitals in the National Theatre. . . . posing for Diego Rivera, partying with Pablo Neruda and Miguel Angel Asturias, writing poems about sexuality and political commitment."

Suárez has been seen as a liberated woman, fallen woman, femme fatale, prostitute, broken-hearted lover, muse, revolutionary poet, and respected woman of letters. The process of reconciling the conflicting stories about Suárez with her personal response to this extraordinary woman enriched Gold's task as a feminist biographer and led her to examine and appreciate the complex nature of "life writing." The result is this portrait of a woman poet that brings to life the person yet leaves the legend intact.