Sergio Ramírez Mercado (; born 5 August 1942 in Masatepe, Nicaragua) is a Nicaraguan writer and intellectual who was a key figure in 1979 revolution, served in the leftist Government Junta of National Reconstruction and as vice president of the country 1985–1990 under the presidency of Daniel Ortega. He has been described as Nicaragua's "best-known living writer". Since the 1990s, he has been involved in the left-wing opposition to the Nicaraguan government, in particular in the Movimiento de Renovación Sandinista. He was exiled from the country in 2021 and stripped of his nationality by the government in 2023.

Life and career

Born in Masatepe in 1942, he published his first book, Cuentos, in 1963. He received his law degree from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua of León in 1964, where he obtained the Gold Medal for being the best student.

thumb|Ramírez (right) on a foreign trip with [[Nora Astorga and Dutch Speaker of the House Dick Dolman 1982|left]]

In 1977 Ramírez became head of the "Group of Twelve", a group of prominent intellectuals, priests, businesspeople, and members of civil society who publicly stated their support for the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) in its struggle to topple the Presidency of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. In February 2023, the Nicaraguan government stripped him, along with 93 other people, of his nationality. The United Nations Refugee Agency called the move "arbitrary" and said "[t]he exercise of fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of assembly or other rights associated with a person’s political views, can never justify the deprivation of nationality."

His home in Masatepe was seized by Nicaraguan authorities on July 1, 2023.

Writings

Ramírez began his literary career as a short story writer. His first story, "The student", was published in 1960 in Ventana, a magazine in León. His first book, published three years later, was a collection of stories, but the following, published in 1970, was a full-length novel. Since then, he has alternated these genres with essays and journalism. His international breakthrough came in 1998 when he won the Alfaguara Prize with his novel Margarita, How Beautiful the Sea.

In 1990, he founded La Quincena, a political journal based in Managua that would be published for ten years. He is presently a columnist for La Prensa as well as several newspapers around the world, including El País, La Jornada, El Nacional, El Tiempo and La Opinión. He is also the Director of Carátula, a Central American cultural e-magazine.

In January 2000, he was awarded the first "José María Arguedas Narrative Prize" from the Casa de las Américas. He has taught at the University of Maryland from 1999 to 2000 and again in 2001, and has been visiting professor at various major universities in the United States and Europe. He is also the President of , the most important literary festival in the region.

On 16 November 2017, Ramírez won the Spanish Ministry of Culture's Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious literary prize in the Spanish-speaking world.

In February 2023, Ramírez was stripped of Nicaraguan citizenship by the Nicaraguan authorities.

His 2021 novel, Tongolele no sabía bailar (Tongolele Didn’t Know How to Dance) is a detective novel examining the 2018 protests.

  • Miguel de Cervantes Prize (2017)

Novels and short stories

  • Cuentos (1963)
  • Tiempo de fulgor (1970)
  • De Tropeles y Tropelías (1971)
  • El Pensamiento vivo de Sandino (1975)
  • Charles Atlas también muere (1976)
  • ¿Te dio miedo la sangre? (1978)
  • Castigo Divino (1988) (Divine Punishment, 2015)
  • Clave de Sol (1993)
  • Un baile de máscaras (1995)
  • Cuentos Completos (1998)
  • Margarita, está linda la mar (1998; Premio Alfaguara de Novela)
  • Adiós muchachos (1999)
  • Mentiras Verdaderas (2001)
  • Catalina y Catalina (2001)
  • Sombras nada más (2002)
  • Mil y una muertes (2004)
  • El Reino Animal (2006)
  • Catalina y Catalina, Alfaguara México, 2001. Contiene 11 cuentos:
  • La herencia del bohemio, El pibe Cabriola, La partida de caza, Aparición en la fábrica de ladrillos, Perdón y olvido, Gran Hotel, Un bosque oscuro, Ya todo está en calma, La viuda Carlota, Vallejo y Catalina y Catalina
  • Ómnibus, antología personal, cuentos, Editorial Universidad de Puerto Rico, San Juan, 2008
  • Juego perfecto, Editorial Piedra Santa / Amanuense Editorial, Guatemala, 2008; 11 cuentos
  • El cielo llora por mí, novel, Alfaguara, 2009 (The sky weeps for me, McPherson & Company, 2020)
  • Perdón y olvido, antología de cuentos: 1960 - 2009 (2009)
  • La fugitiva, novel, Alfaguara, 2011
  • La girafa embarazada, children's short story (2013)
  • Flores oscuras, Alfaguara, 2013. Contiene 12 relatos:
  • Adán y Eva, La puerta falsa, La cueva del trono de la calavera, Ya no estás más a mi lado corazón, Las alas de la gloria, La colina 155, No me vayan a haber dejado solo, Ángela, el petimetre y el diablo, El mudo de Truro, Iowa, El autobús amarillo, Abbott y Costello y Flores oscuras
  • Lo que sabe el paladar. Diccionario de los alimentos de Nicaragua, compendio en comidas y recetas, 2014
  • Juan de Juanes, relatos, Alfaguara México, 2014
  • Sara: sus páginas beben del mito bíblico de Abraham y Sara 6
  • A la mesa con Rubén Darío, short stoaries, 2016
  • Ya nadie llora por mí, crime novel, Alfaguara, 2017
  • Tongolele no sabía bailar, Alfaguara, 2021
  • El caballo dorado, Alfaguara, 2024

Ramírez participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007.

Essays and testimonies

  • Mis días con el rector, Ediciones Ventana, León, Nicaragua, 1965; artículos publicados en el diario La Noticia a raíz del fallecimiento del rector de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, Mariano Fiallos Gil
  • Hombre del Caribe, Editorial EDUCA, Costa Rica, 1977 (biografía de Abelardo Cuadra)
  • El muchacho de Niquinohomo, ensayo biográfico sobre Sandino, Unidad Editorial "Juan de Dios Muñoz", Departamento de Propaganda y Educación Política del FSLN, 1981 (reeditado en 1988 por la editorial Vanguardia, Managua)
  • Pensamiento vivo de Sandino, 2 tomos, Editorial Nueva Nicaragua, Managua, 1981
  • Balcanes y volcanes, Editorial Nueva América, Buenos Aires, 1983
  • El alba de oro. La historia viva de Nicaragua, Editorial Siglo XXI, México, 1983
  • Estás en Nicaragua, Munhnik Editores, Barcelona, 1985
  • Las armas del futuro, Editorial Nueva Nicaragua, Managua, 1987
  • La marca del Zorro, Editorial Nueva Nicaragua, Managua, 1989; 17 horas de conversación con el comandante guerrillero Francisco Rivera
  • Quintero en septiembre de 1988
  • Confesión de amor, con prólogo de Ernesto Cardenal; Ediciones Nicarao, Managua, 1991
  • Oficios compartidos, Editorial Siglo XXI, México, 1994
  • Biografía Mariano Fiallos, Editorial Universitaria, León, Nicaragua, 1997
  • Adiós muchachos, Alfaguara 1999; una memoria de la revolución sandinista
  • Mentiras verdaderas, Alfaguara México, 2001
  • El viejo arte de mentir, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, 2004
  • El señor de los tristes, ensayos literarios, Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, San Juan, 2006
  • Tambor olvidado, Aguilar, San José, Costa Rica, 2007
  • Cuando todos hablamos, Alfaguara, 2008; contiene más de 200 artículos publicados en su blog en el portal literario El Boomeran(g)

References

  • Sergio Ramírez - Official Website
  • Sergio Ramírez - Official Facebook Page
  • Sergio Ramírez - Official Twitter
  • Stock Exchange Of Visions: Visions of Sergio Ramírez (Video Interviews)
  • Miami Herald article that includes comments from Ramírez
  • Biography with focus on literature