Portal, Marta (1930–)

Spanish journalist and writer. Name variations: Marta Portal Nicolás. Born Marta Portal Nicolás on Aug 10, 1930, in Nava, Asturias, Spain; earned BA in journalism and doctorate in information science.

Acclaimed Spanish writer and journalist, earned the Planeta prize for novel A tientas y a ciegas (Groping Blindly, 1966); received scholarships from March Foundation to study abroad (1966) and chose Colombia; worked as journalist and professor of literature with faculty of information sciences at Complutense University in Madrid; wrote numerous literary studies and essays; works of fiction and nonfiction focus on women and lesbians, and explore the Latin American boom in literature; published semi-autobiographical Tu y yo, nosotros tres (2002); honored by the naming of cultural center, Casa de la Cultura Marta Portal, in native Asturias; won Adelaida Ristori Prize (1975), Hucha Prize (1991) and Horizonte prize (1992). Selected works: (novels) El malmuerto (He Who Died Badly, 1967), A ras de las sombras (Level with the Shadows, 1968), Ladridos a la luna (Howls at the Moon, 1970), El buen camino (The Good Road, 1975), Un espacio erótico (An Erotic Space, 1982), Pago de traición (Payback for Betrayal, 1983), El ángel caído (The Fallen Angel, 1994); (short stories) La veintena (The Twentieth, 1973); (literary studies) Proceso narrativo de la revolución mexicana (The Narrative Process of the Mexiacn Revolution, 1977), Análisis semiológico de Pedro Páramo (Semiologic Analysis of Pedro Páramo, 1981), and Rufo: Dinámica de la violencia (Rufo: The Dynamic of Violence, 1984).