Sergio Ramírez

Life and career

Born in Masatepe in 1942, he published his first book, Cuentos, in 1963. He received his law degree from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua of León in 1964, where he obtained the Gold Medal for being the best student.

In 1977 Ramírez became head of the "Group of Twelve", a group of prominent intellectuals, priests, businesspeople, and members of civil society who publicly stated their support for the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) in its struggle to topple the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. With the triumph of the Revolution in 1979, he became part of the Junta of the Government of National Reconstruction, where he presided over the National Council of Education. He was elected vice-president of Nicaragua in 1984 and was sworn in 1985.

Though the FSLN lost power to the UNO coalition headed by Violeta Barrios de Chamorro in 1990, Ramírez continued to serve as the leader of the Sandinista block in the National Assembly until 1995, when he founded the Movimiento de Renovación Sandinista (MRS) because of his differences with other leaders of the FSLN, such as former president Daniel Ortega, on issues of democratic reform. He has since become retrospectively critical of certain Sandinista policies that he views as having turned the country against the FSLN. He made an unsuccessful bid for president on the MRS ticket in 1996. Since then, Ramírez has retired definitively from politics and his literary work has gained international recognition and his novels have been translated into several languages. He recently won the "Carlos Fuentes" prize, awarded by Mexico, in recognition for his life long work. He currently lives in Managua but travels extensively because of his many commitments as a writer.

He married his wife, Gertrudis "Tulita" Guerrero Mayorga, in 1964. He has three children: Sergio, María , and Dorel and 8 Grandchildren: Elianne, Carlos Fernando, Camila, Alejandro, Luciana, Marianna, Andrés and Carlos.

Sergio Ramirez began his literary career as a storyteller: his first story, "The student", was published in 1960 in the magazine Ventana, Leon. His first book, published three years later, was just a collection of stories, but the following, published in 1970, was already a novel. Since then, he has alternated these genres with essays and journalism. His international breakthrough came in 1998 when he won the Alfaguara Prize with his novel "Margarita, how beautiful the sea".

Ramirez founded in 1990 La Quincena, a publication that would last in Managua more than ten years. He is presently a columnist for several newspapers around the world, including El País, Madrid; La Jornada, Mexico; El Nacional, Caracas; El Tiempo, Bogota and La Opinion, Los Angeles; La Prensa y Magazine in Nicaragua. He also directs Carátula, an electronic Central American cultural magazine.

In January 2000, he was awarded the first Narrative Prize José María Arguedas granted by Casa de las Americas based in Havana, Cuba.

He has taught at the University of Maryland from 1999 to 2000 and in 2001, and has been visiting professor at various prestigious universities in the United States, and Europe.

He is the President of Centroamerica cuenta the most important literature festival in the region.

Awards and honors

Novels and short stories

Ramírez participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007.

Essays and testimonies