Idea Vilariño

Uruguayan poet, translator, essayist, literary critic, and lyricist Idea Vilariño was part of a group of writers called the Generación del ’45 (“Generation of ’45”), and she remains a key figure in Latin American literature. She grew up in Montevideo, where she taught high school for many years. In 1985, after the dictatorship of Uruguay ended, she joined the faculty at the University of the Republic in Montevideo.

Vilariño’s honors include the 2004 Konex Award for literature; the 1987 Premio a la labor intelectual José Enrique Rodó, awarded by the municipal government of Montevideo; and a fellowship at the Complutense University of Madrid. Her many poetry collections include Poesía (“Poetry,” 1970); Treinta poemas (“30 poems,” 1967); Pobre mundo (“Poor World,” 1966); Poemas de amor (“Love Poems,” 1957), which was dedicated to renowned Uruguayan novelist Juan Carlos Onetti; Nocturnos (“Nocturnes,” 1955); and La suplicante (“The Supplicant,” 1945). In 2020, the Pitt Poetry Series published Poemas de amor / Love Poems, a posthumous collection of Vilariño’s original poems presented side by side with translations by Jesse Lee Kercheval.

Vilariño was also a celebrated translator of Shakespeare into Spanish. She wrote critical studies of poets Antonio Machado and Julio Herrera y Reissig, among others. Additionally, she wrote lyrics for works such as “A una Paloma” (“To a Dove”), set to music by Daniel Viglietti, and “La Canción y el Poema” (“The Song and the Poem”), with a melody by Alfredo Zitarrosa.

Vilariño died in Montevideo in 2009.