Vicente Aleixandre

Vicente Aleixandre
Aleixandre in 1977
Born	(1898-04-26)April 26, 1898 Seville, Spain
Died	December 14, 1984(1984-12-14) (aged 95) Madrid, Spain
Occupation	Poet
Nationality	Spanish
Notable award(s)	Nobel Prize in Literature 1977

Vicente Pío Marcelino Cirilo Aleixandre y Merlo (April 26, 1898 – December 14, 1984) was a Spanish poet who was born in Seville. Aleixandre was a Nobel Prize laureate for Literature in 1977. He was part of the Generation of '27. He died in Madrid in 1984.

Aleixandre's early poetry, which he wrote mostly in free verse, is highly surrealistic. It also praises the beauty of nature by using symbols that represent the earth and the sea. Many of Aleixandre's early poems are filled with sadness. They reflect his feeling that people have lost the passion and free spirit that he saw in nature.

His works

His early collections of poetry include Passion of the Earth (1935) and Destruction or Love (1933). In 1944, he wrote Shadow of Paradise, the poetry where he first began to concentrate on themes such as fellowship, friendliness, and spiritual unity. His later books of poetry include History of the Heart (1954) and In a Vast Dominion (1962).

Aleixandre studied law at the University of Madrid. Selections of his work were translated into English in Twenty Poems of Vicente Aleixandre (1977) and A Longing for the Light: Selected Poems of Vincent Aleixandre (1979; Copper Canyon Press, 2007) (translated by Lewis Hyde).

References

• Poesin blev min räddning (1977), documentary directed by Humberto López y Guerra about the Spanish Literature Nobel Prize Winner Vicente Aleixandre produced for Swedish Television TV1-Kultur