Hilma Contreras

Hilma Contreras Castillo (born 8 December 1913 in San Francisco de Macoris, † January 15, 2006 ibid ) was a Dominican writer.

Life

Hilma Contreras was born on 8 December 1913 in San Francisco de Macoris, the daughter of the renowned physician Darío Contreras and his wife Juana Castillo in the Dominican Republic. The family lived 1914-1920 in Paris, where his father worked in surgery. When the family returned in 1920 to the Dominican Republic, Contreras attended the primary school Ercilia Pepin in Santiago de los Caballeros. But the family in 1925, returned to France, where Contreras graduated high school and then studied at the Sorbonne in French, English and literature. In 1932 she began her studies in archeology at the Archaeological Institute in Paris, which made her 1933 return to San Francisco de Macoris. From 1933 to 1942 she worked between San Francisco de Macoris, Santiago de los Caballeros and Santo Domingo, where they also had their residence in 1942. In 1949 she completed her studies in philosophy at the University of Santo Domingo. Between 1946 and 1962, Contreras worked in the Dominican Embassy in Paris as well as a translator of the French mission in the Dominican Republic. After her father's death in 1963 she remained for three years in France, took their diplomatic work at the embassy until 1966 and then again led this continued until 1975.

At the beginning of her literary career, she was inspired by writer Juan Bosch, who is also their stories " Tarde de cristal" and " Los buenos se van " in the newspaper Listin Diario published 1937. Three years after these publications was followed by another series of stories at another newspaper of Santo Domingo, La Información. In 1953, the first collection of short stories under the title " Cuatro cuentos " was released and a decade later, " El ojo de Dios: cuentos de la clandestinidad ". It was not until 25 years after the first publication of short stories, in 1986, was her first and only novel, " La tierra está bramando " published in 1987 and was followed by the third volume of short stories entitled " Entre dos Silencios ".

Some of their stories, such as " La espera " have been included in national and international literary anthologies such as El cuento de Santo Domingo, published by Sócrates Nolasco, Combatidas, combativas y combatientes by Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Antología del cuento dominicano of Diógenes Céspedes or Dos siglos de literatura dominicana by José Alcántara Almánzar. She also worked together with the newspapers Listin Diario and El Caribe. Despite the very small number of works in simple prose Contreras is one of the most important contemporary storytellers in the Dominican Republic. In 2002 she was awarded the National Prize for Literature and is the first woman to be awarded this prize.

Contreras was never married and had no children. She died in 2006 in her hometown.

Published Books

  • Doña Endrina de Calatayud (1952 )
  • Cuatro cuentos (1953 )
  • El ojo de Dios: cuentos de la clandestinidad (1962 )
  • La tierra está bramando (1986 )
  • Entre dos Silencios (1987 )
  • Facetas de la vida (1993 )
  • Obras escogidas ( will be published)
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