Enrique Lihn

Enrique Lihn Carrasco (1929-1988) was a Chilean poet, playwright, and novelist. Son of Enrique Lihn Doll and of María Carrasco Délano. He married Ivette Mingram (1932-2008) and had only one daughter: Andrea María Lihn Mingram, actress.

Born in 1929 at Santiago, Chile, Lihn aspired to be a painter but after a failed attempt during university, he abandoned that dream to pursue writing. Lihn proceeded to develop into a well known poet, playwright, and novelist. He taught literature at the University of Chile. Lihn views both the past and the future as forms of death, and his emphasis on this point is evident throughout his literary works. His work revolved around his contempt for the contemporary dictatorship, as Chile was governed by a military junta. Works layered with social, political, and religious commentary are common throughout Lihn's canon. His final book, "Diario de Muerte" was written in the six weeks preceding his death from cancer on July 10, 1988--the evening before he died, he corrected the proofs. ["The Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry". J. D. McLatchy ed. Vintage Books: New York, 1996. Pg. 546]

Notable works

Poetry

*The Dark Room
*Cemetery in Punta Arenas
*Six Poems of Loneliness
*Torture Chamber
*Of All Despondencies
*A Favourite Little Shrine
*Goodnight, Achilles

Notes

References