Prado, Pedro (1886–1952)

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Prado, Pedro (1886–1952)

Pedro Prado (b. 8 October 1886; d. 31 January 1952), Chilean writer. His earlier poetic work, beginning with Flores de cardo (1908; Thistle Flowers) and El llamado del mundo (1913; The Beckoning World) established a departure from modernism in vogue in Chile that marked the inauguration of free verse, the poem in prose, and antirationalist experimentation in the poetic endeavor. In his later poetry, Camino de las horas (1934; Path of the Hours), Otoño en las dunas (1940; Autumn in the Dunes), Esta bella ciudad envenenada (1945; This Beautiful Poisoned City), and No más que una rosa (1946; Only a Rose), he adopted the sonnet as a preferred form of esthetic expression.

Santiago-born Prado published three novels, La reina de Rapa-Nui (1914; The Queen of Rapa Nui), Alsino (1920), and Un juez rural (1924; A Country Judge). His masterpiece Alsino, an allegorical novel about a hunchback boy who wants to fly, has attracted much critical attention as well as continuous editorial success. In 1949 he was awarded the National Prize for literature in recognition of his overall creative production. He died in Viña del Mar.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hernán Díaz Arrieta, Los cuatro grandes de la literatura chilena curante el siglo XX (1963), pp. 55-118.

Raúl Silva Castro, Pedro Prado (1965).

John R. Kelly, Pedro Prado (1974).

Lucía Guerra-Cunningham, "La aventura del héroe como representación de la visión de mundo en Alsino de Pedro Prado," in Hispania 66, no. 1 (1983): 32-39.

Hernán Castellano-Girón, "Signos de modernidad en las novelas de Pedro Prado," in Hispamérica 18, no. 52 (1989): 31-47.