Alicia Morel

Alicia Morel Chaigneau (26 July 1921 – 1 March 2017 ) was a Chilean writer, novelist, storyteller, poet, and essayist best known for her work in the field of children's literature and theater for children and puppets.

Biography Early years Alicia Morel was born to a very well-educated family in which she was the eldest of six children. From a very young age she was deeply interested in literature. Her favorite authors were Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and Selma Lagerlöf. It was their work that inspired her to write. Moreover, she felt a great attraction to the outdoors and nature, observing and studying insects, trees, flowers, and the climate when she went out with her siblings to explore the surroundings of their home.

Her father is described as a generous, tender, and authoritarian man, who used to play the cello. The family went through numerous changes throughout Alicia's childhood. As the years went on, she learned to play the piano and began to write her first stories and poems. These were based in the Cajón del Maipo, a place she frequented for its natural beauty. At age 12 she discovered that her vocation was to write. She was encouraged in this by Jorge Zuloaga, a family friend who provided her with books by authors such as James Joyce, Katherine Mansfield, and González Vera. and after this she ventured into various genres such as novels, poetry, , Chilean legends, and children's stories. Four years later, Zuloaga invited her to an awards ceremony for the writer Francisco Coloane, for his most famous work. During this time she worked as a physician's assistant, as she had a great devotion to curing the sick. She also repaired and bound old books. which was adapted for the theater in 2012.

During the 1950s, two of Morel's best-known characters were born in La Hormiguita Cantora y el Duende Melodía, whose stories "were transmitted from 1954 to 1957 [as] radio-adapted editions for children on and Radio Cooperativa Vitalicia, [...] adventures which were published in 1956 and 1957." These stories would later be illustrated by her friend, artist . Around this time she also began to visit schools, where she put on puppet shows, presenting more than 15 stories with dozens of characters.

Morel was one of the founders of International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) of Chile, together with writers Lucía Gevert Parada, Marcela Paz, and Maité Allamand, among others. She served as vice president of this institution during its early years. She also collaborated on various educational projects, creating a magazine for the ASIMET Compensation Fund and writing for the biannual magazine El Volantín. and the Iberoamerican Congress of Language and Children's and Young Adult Literature (Congreso iberoamericano de lengua y literatura infantil y juvenil; CILELJ) in 2010. In the latter year she was selected to represent Chile at the Hans Christian Andersen Awards.

Personal life Alicia Morel's brother Eduardo Morel Chaignau was the father of Cecilia Morel Montes, twice the First Lady of Chile (from 2010 to 2014, and from 2018 to 2022).

Morel married politician William Thayer Arteaga, with whom she had seven children.

Works Poetry 1938: En el campo y la ciudad 1951: Como una raíz de agua 1990: El árbol de los cielos 2007: Color del tiempo

Novels 1940: Juanilla, Juanillo y la Abuela 1965: El jardín de Dionisio 1978: Perico trepa por Chile (as coauthor with Marcela Paz) 1988: El viaje de los duendes al otro lado del mundo 2001: El fabricante de risas 2001: La conquista del rocío 2002: El viaje de los invisibles 2010: Espejos Paralelos

Short stories 1973: Cuentos de la Pícara Polita 1978: Nuestros cuentos (anthology of Chilean authors) 1983: Cuentos Araucanos, La gente de la Tierra 1983: La noche en la ventana 1985: Polita va a la escuela 1996: Polita en el bosque 1999: Las manchas de Vinca 2004: Mozart cuenta la Flauta Mágica, cuento 2007: Travesuras de Polita 2008: El Cururo incomprendido 2010: El secreto del caracol 1991: Polita aprende el mundo 1991: La Hoja Viajera 1991: Cuentos de tesoros y monedas de oro 1992: Una aguja y un dedal 1993: Cuentos de la lluvia 1994: Aventuras del Duende Melodía 1994: El baile de los cantaritos 1994: La cartera azul y Amigos del bosque 1978: El Increíble Mundo de Llanca 1995: El cururo incomprendido 2015: Cuentos de la Panchita

Translations 1990: Translation of The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin 1981: Translation of The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 1982: Translation of The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield

Other 1956: La Hormiguita Cantora y el Duende Melodía 1977: ¿Quién soy? (essay) 1984: Los viajes misteriosos de María (essay) 1986: La flauta encantada (puppetry and theater for children) 1990: Variaciones Literarias (essays on Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield) 1991: Hagamos títeres (teaching text and five works for puppets) 1995: La Era del Sueño (essay) 1996: Leyendas bajo la Cruz del Sur 2004: La Biblia contada para ti (as coauthor with ) 2005: La última polilla del otoño 2006: Una mariposa en apuros, El baile del Picaflor 2007: Polita en el bosque 2009: El Paraguas mágico 2009: Polita Aprende el mundo y Polita va a la escuela