STELLA MARIS 2016
II STELLA MARIS BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIR AWARD

Biography of Vicente Aleixandre. This is the first complete biography of Nobel Prize winner Vicente Aleixandre, covering his life from birth to death.

It is a rigorously documented work that incorporates numerous previously unpublished writings—mainly letters—while aiming to introduce Aleixandre to the general public. Hence, the text has a distinctive pace: accessible and informative, yet still grounded in academic rigor.

The vast collection of Aleixandre’s letters, which Emilio Calderón has used for this biography, allows readers to discover new aspects of both the public and private life of Aleixandre, previously unknown.

Topics include his bisexuality, his position during the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s regime, his attempted exile in February 1938 at the height of the conflict, and his ultimate decision to remain in Spain in what has been called his “inner exile,” among other details.

Finally, the biography provides previously unpublished or little-known information about the poet’s final years, from receiving the 1977 Nobel Prize in Literature to his death.