Happy 80th, Lara Ríos! (Costa Rican author & HCA nominee)

[leno...@yahoo.com]

Not to be confused with the younger Argentine romance writer.

Real name: Marilyn Echeverría Zürcher de Sauter. She has written at least 14 books and was nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1992. From what I can tell, most of her novels are aimed at the 8-10 age range. However, according to the Google Books link below, at least one of her 1990s novels mentions several grim teenage issues.

Besides Spanish, she speaks German, French and English. (Unfortunately, I don't see any English editions of her books.)

http://www.lararios.co.cr/biografia.html
(biography page of her website, with photo - in Spanish)

http://www.lararios.co.cr/obras.html
(book covers and descriptions - in Spanish)

http://books.google.com/books?id=Fy6RDMPmDikC&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=lara+rios+1934&source=bl&ots=1nmbsW5pdl&sig=US3t1NTrEGeLYb1s-WjzTIQSDBE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5b9FU4-nHLjIsATK0oHIAg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=lara%20rios%201934&f=false
(about Ríos' body of work - in English)

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dlara%2Brios%2Bsauter%26biw%3D1349%26bih%3D792&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=es&u=http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2009/abril/29/aldea1948218.html&usg=ALkJrhgVGyD7cUYYDNmtVKenPTjUcKWpxw
(rough translation of article - it says she resides in Santa Ana, San José)

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dlara%2Brios%2Bsauter%26biw%3D1349%26bih%3D792&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=es&u=http://wvw.nacion.com/ancora/2002/julio/14/ancora8.html&usg=ALkJrhjIeU_P9BBIF5GEOBYAFX6Fv4doyg
(another translated article)

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dlara%2Brios%2Bsauter%26biw%3D1349%26bih%3D792&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=es&u=http://wvw.nacion.com/viva/2004/noviembre/11/cultura0.html&usg=ALkJrhivhtPHnrH_nmxromwRB6zmQ-y3yQ
(translated interview from 2004)

Excerpt:

Where ideas are born Lara Rios?

_ "In everyday life, hang out with my eyes open trying to capture the attitudes of the people, which says what it does and how it does, that's very interesting, also arise from reading now I'm reading The Little Prince on one side and secondly, Gabriela Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado ... two completely different genres.

_ What is the ingredient that currently lacks the Costa Rican literature?

_ "The humor, the children speak positively, for they always have to have hope, something positive, to create them the will to live, that when they take a book sit this time of joy."

_ What made Lara Rios took the pen again after he had announced his retirement?

_ "I felt sick, but over time I realized that I can cope with my condition, I can write, maybe slower, but I can do it, I even think we got to do another volume of Dora Kemp"

_ What can readers expect from The Adventures of Mrs. Lora and Parakeet Chico?

_ "Is the story of Dora Kemp a character with a very special life, begin their work as guardian angels of several children with disabilities as one day meets and together parakeet Chico: blindness, cerebral palsy, attention deficit, polio , Down Syndrome and Tourette's. "

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://heredia-costarica.zonalibre.org/archives/2009/09/marilyn-echeverria-zurcher-lara-rios.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dlara%2Brios%2Bsauter%26biw%3D1349%26bih%3D792
(more about her books)


WORKS:

1976: Libro de poemas "Algodón de azúcar".
1979: Cuentos de mi alcancía.

1982: Obra de teatro: 'El eco y el miedo'.
1982: Cuentos publicados en la Antología" País de magia': El país Rosado y El duende y el joboto.

1982: Pantalones cortos.
("Arturo, a Costa Rican schoolboy, writes in the diary he gets for his eleventh birthday about his family, teachers, classmates, and other experiences such as visiting an orphanage with his mother to vacationing at the beach.")

1986: El rey que deseaba escribir un cuento.
("The king wants to write a story, but he doesn't know how. Meanwhile, his kingdom is suffering from his neglect.")

1989: Cuentos de palomas (Un libro de cuentos sobre la paz que fue donado a las Escuelas Asociadas de UNESCO).

1990: Verano de colores.
("Written in the form of a diary, Verano de colores is the journal of a boy named Arthur who is searching for his own identity and independence.")

1991: MO (Historia de una joven indígena cabécar).
1995: Pantalones largos (Novela juvenil para 12 años en adelante).

2000: El Círculo de Fuego Blanco (Novela juvenil de suspenso para 11 años en adelante).

2002: La Música de Paul Premio Nacional Aquileo J. Echeverría en cuento.
("A young boy's friend dies after receiving a small music box from him.")

2004: Aventuras de Dora la Lora y Chico Perico.
2006: Nuevas Aventuras de Dora la Lora y Chico Perico.


Lenona.