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The National Prize for Literature found Elicura Chihuailaf in Andalusia, fulfilling his intense agenda as a bilingual writer and oralist recognized in Europe for his telluric poetry and the translations into Mapudungún of such magnificent works as “La Araucana”, the classic by Alonso de Ercilla; “Todos los Cantos”, by the Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda and “Canto Libre,” by the singer and popular artist Víctor Jara.
Born in the Mapuche community of Kechurewe, in Araucanía, he responded with emotion to the announcement of the distinction by the Ministry of Culture, noting that in such a tremendous moment that the world is living, nature has given us a harsh warning. and just as convinced that, to face conflicts, “talking we can advance in the good life.”
While the tension in Araucanía remains latent, Elicura demands “State of Chile to open up to listen to the reality that the Mapuche people live. Our fight is for tenderness …This award opens a window for the State to listen to our Mapuche ”.
The commitment to his people is expressed with the same eloquence and force as his poems, although a stanza of “The key that no one has lost” indicates that “Poetry is useless / they tell me / And in the forest the trees / caress with their blue roots … “
Last March, Elicura was trapped in Spain by the pandemic and still anchored in the Andalusian lands, he thanked the honorary recognition and material awarded by the Government to his work, stating that “this award opens a window for the State to listen to the Mapuche people.”
In 1994, the First Meeting of Indigenous Writing was held in Mexico. On that occasion, Elicura Chihuailaf proposed the term orality to refer to the importance of the word in the Mapuche culture, as the sustenance of the community and of communication with the spirit and heart of the other, assuming the mode of poetic expression through writing.
As a traditional writer, “Sueños Azules” and “Contrasueños” are two of his main books, although outside the country they recognize him more as the oralitor -who exercises his writing next to his sources: the orality of the elders- that protects the Mapuche cultural heritage …
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