Alfonso Chase

Alfonso Chase (born 1944 in Cartago, Costa Rica) is a contemporary Costa Rican author. He was educated in Costa Rica, Mexico, Venezuela and the United States, and he began his career in poetry in 1965. He has received numerous awards for his writing, including the Premio Nacional de Poesía twice (1967 and 1995), the Premio Nacional de la Novela (1968) and the Premio Nacional de Cuento (1975); he has also been awarded the Premio Carmen Lyra, de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil for children's literature (1978). As well as representing Costa Rica in several international committees, he founded the Department of Publications of Costa Rica's Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1970. He has worked at the Universidad Nacional in Heredia since 1974, and was named Fulbright Scholar in Residence at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville in the United States in 1991-92.