Nicaraguan writer Gioconda Belli wins Reina Sofia poetry prize

MEXICO CITY — Nicaraguan poet and novelist Gioconda Belli, known for her feminist and erotic literature, was awarded the Reina Sofia Ibero-American Poetry prize Monday. Considered among Latin America’s best-known writers, Belli’s work has been translated into more than 20 languages and includes 15 poetry collections, eight novels, and seven books of essays, testimonials and children’s stories. “I couldn’t be happier than to have won this poetry prize,” Belli said via Twitter Monday. Ricardo Rivero, rector of Spain’s Salamanca University, which jointly awards the prize, said in a statement announcing the prize winner that beyond the quality Belli’s literature she has defended “values like the dignity of a person, the fight against tyranny and the maintaining of a coherent position at all times.” Ortega’s government has driven thousands of Nicaraguans out of the government since popular protests erupted in 2018 and expelled more than 200 prisoners considered by many to be victims of political persecution earlier this year, also stripping them of their citizenship.