Versopolis Podcast #31: Vision of the Future

During the Days of Poetry and Wine festival in Ptuj, Slovenia, I spoke to Gioconda Belli, the renowned Nicaraguan poet and novelist. Far more than a literary figure, Belli is a force of nature whose life reads like an epic novel: a journey from a life of privilege in to a pivotal role in the Sandinista revolution, from exile under a dictatorship to her current exile as a critic of the very government she helped install. Her work, celebrated globally and translated into over twenty languages, is a testament to the power of words to challenge oppression, explore love, and redefine femininity.

We spoke of the alarming rise of global inequality and the concerning shift towards right-wing policies that threaten to unravel the hard-won progressive ideals of her generation. With the passion of a lifelong activist, she expressed both concern and hope regarding the political engagement of young people. Additionally, we delved into the evolving role and perception of femininity in today’s society, a central theme in her groundbreaking novel The Inhabited Woman, discussing how the authentic, powerful ‘female voice’ she pioneered in poetry remains a crucial instrument for cultural and social change.

Gioconda Belli (1948) is a renowned Nicaraguan-Spanish poet and writer, celebrated for forging a distinctly authentic and powerful female voice that breaks free from the male-dominated poetic tradition to express a genuine political, social and cultural perspective. Her extensive body of work, translated into over 20 languages, has been recognised with major awards including the Reina Sofía Prize for Poetry (2023), the Hermann Kesten Prize (2018) for defending press freedom, and the Latin American Prize for her novel El País de las Mujeres, making her the first woman to receive that honour. Due to her writing’s critical stance against the government of Daniel Ortega, she was stripped of her Nicaraguan citizenship and now lives in exile in Madrid. For Slovenian readers, she is known through Sara Virk’s excellent translation of her collection Medeni škandal (The Honey Scandal), which captures the essence of her work: a profound creative force that, like the shore meeting the sea, connects the visible world with the deep, resonant truths of experience.