Quiñones, Magaly 1945–

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Quiñones, Magaly 1945–

(Marta Magaly Quiñones Perez)

PERSONAL: Born 1945, in Ponce, PR. Education: University of Puerto Rico, M.A.

ADDRESSES: Home—P.O. Box 22269, University Station, San Juan, PR 00931-2269. E-mail—mquinone@rrpac.upr.clu.edu.

AWARDS, HONORS: PEN award, 1986; Mairena poetry prize, for Nombrar.

WRITINGS:

POETRY

Entre me voz y el tiempo, Juan Ponce de León (San Juan, PR), 1969.

Era que el mundo era, illustrated by Antonio Marorell, Nacional (Carolina, PR), 1974.

Zambayllu, [San Juan, PR], 1976.

Cantándole a la noche misma, [San Juan, PR], 1978.

En la pequeña Antilla, Mairena (San Juan, PR), 1982.

Nombrar, Mairena (Rio Piedras, PR), 1985.

Razón de lucha, razón de amor, Mairena (San Juan, PR), 1989.

Sueños de papel, University of Puerto Rico Press (San Juan, PR), 1996.

SIDELIGHTS: Puerto Rican poet Magaly Quiñones's poems include such themes as the preservation of cultural identity and customs and women's issues. They have appeared in several journals and book collections. In her Cantándole a la noche misma the poems examine such topics as the relationship between self and nature, poverty and exploitation, and destruction. Often divided into four sections, Quiñones's collections offer a variety of themes and textures. In En la pequeña Antilla, for example, metaphors are used to express intimacy, pain, sadness, death, and time, yet the collection concludes on a more concrete note with poems about the Antilles.

Unlike many of her books, Entre me voz y el tiempo is divided into five sections, not four. It is devoted to the poet's voice and era and uses lyrical language to describe traditional ideas. Era que el mundo era returns to a four-part organization with a focus on the poet's connection with nature as well as the struggle against solitude. Dedicated to Chile, Peru, and Latin America, Zambayllu presents sensitivity and admiration for native culture. Luis Diaz Marquez, a reviewer for Horizontes, commended Quiñones for building "tension with quietude and movement; eternity with history; masculinity with femininity; identity with insanity." Marquez also applauded Quiñones for including in her poetry "the contemplation of the individual within history, the collective, and the consequences of the contradictions and dangers."