Elías Nandino

Elías Nandino (April 19, 1900 – October 3, 1993) was a Mexican poet.

Biography

Nandino was born in Cocula, Jalisco. As a boy, he was brought up in the Catholic religion and served as an altar boy. He also attended Catholic school. Nandino was friends with boys who were able to express their homosexual desires secretly and discreetly at the schools. Nandino wished to support younger gay writers.

He was editor of several publications and promoter of writing workshops. In the last years of his life he received numerous awards both for his career as a poet and for his support to literature in Mexico, such as the Aguascalientes National Poetry Prize (1979) and the National Prize for Literature (1982). He died in Guadalajara, Jalisco at the age of 93.

Poetry Nandino's poetry uses both "romanticism and symbolism" and he is very much a provocative dissident who wanted to "erode the mystique around sexuality." His poetry often deals with contradictions in both how he felt about religion, homosexuality and eroticism. His collection, Erotismo al rojo blanco/Eroticism at a Burning White, was given Mexico's highest literary prize in 1983.

He often uses the sonnet form.

Publications Espiral, 1928 Décimas a mi muerte, 1930 Color de ausencia, 1932 Eco, 1934 Río de sombra, 1935 Sonetos, 1937 Poemas árboles, 1938 Nuevos sonetos, 1939 Nudo de sombras, 1947 Espejo de mi muerte, 1945 Poesía I, 1947 Poesía II, 1949 Naufragio de la duda, 1950 Triángulo de silencios, 1953 Nocturna suma, 1955 Nocturno amor, 1958 Nocturno día, 1959 Nocturna palabra, 1960 Eternidad del polvo, 1970 Cerca de lo lejos, 1979 Costumbre de morir a diario, 1982 Erotismo al rojo blanco, 1983 Todos mis nocturnos, 1988 Ciclos terrenales, 1989. El coronelito, 1991 (stories). Banquete íntimo, 1993 (edited posthumously). Juntando mis pasos, 2000 (autobiography). Selected Poems, in Spanish and English, 2010, (translated and with an introduction by Don Cellini).