Mastretta, Ángeles (1949–)

The Mexican writer and journalist Ángeles Mastretta is well known for creating evocative female characters and literary works that reflect the social and political realities of Mexico. Born in Puebla on October 9, 1949, Mastretta studied journalism and communication at the Universidad Nacional in Mexico City. She began her writing career working as a journalist for the magazine Siete and later did some television interviewing. In 1974 she won a scholarship to the Centro Mexicano de Escritores (Mexican Writers' Center), where she came into contact with such writers as Juan Rulfo and Salvador Elizondo. This decisive life experience gave her the discipline and commitment to become a professional writer. Her first novel, Arráncame la vida (1985; translated into English as Mexican Bolero [1989] and Tear This Heart Out [1997]), was an immediate literary success and earned her the Mazatlán Prize for Literature for Best Book of the Year. In 1996 Mastretta won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for her novel Mal de amores (1996; Lovesick, 1997). She has also written La pájara pinta (1975), Mujeres de ojos grandes (1990; Women with Big Eyes, 2003), Puerto libre (1993), El mundo iluminado (1998), and Ninguna eternidad como la mía (1999).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

De Beer, Gabriela. "Angeles Mastretta." In her Contemporary Mexican Women Writers: Five Voices. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996.

Foster, David William. Handbook of Latin American Literature. 2nd ed. New York and London: Garland, 1992.

                             Juan Carlos Grijalva