BIOGRAPHY
Juana de Ibarbourou was born in Uruguay in 1895. She grew up in the country-side and began to feel an affinity with nature at an early age. She wrote lyrics celebrating life, love, and nature. Her early works, including "Las lenguas de diamante" (1919) and "Raiz salvaje" (1922), give a sense of joyousness about human existence and, in 1923, earned her the name of Juana de America. She wrote for magazines, newspapers, and also wrote children's tales and textbooks.
Her poetry is based on what she has seen or experienced, and she uses nature to reflect her thoughts, emotions, and moods. Her later works were influenced by religion as well as a growing preoccupation with old age, pain, death, bitterness and sorrow. She died in 1979.
From the guide to the Juana de Ibarbourou Papers, 1915-1960, (Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.)
