Mariasun Landa


Mariasun Landa Etxebeste is a Spanish writer. Most of her literary production has been developed in the Basque language in the field of children's and young people's literature. She is one of the writers in Basque language more translated to other languages.

Life

After completing her studies as a social worker, she moved to Paris to learn French as an au pair and mastered the language, to study higher education at the Sorbonne, where she graduated in Philosophy in 1973.
This period, immediately following the events Of May of the 68 was reflected in autobiographical pieces of her work The party in the next room. She also holds a degree in Philosophy from the University of Valencia.
On her return from France, she began to study Basque, since she had not learned in her native environment, despite being the language of her family.
She then worked as a teacher of Basic Education for several years, in Zarauz, where she was also the director of the writer Anjel Lertxundi and in Lasarte-Oria. It was the lack of materials in Basque to be able to practice teaching, which boosted her literary activity.
Later she worked in the Basque Language Service of the Teaching Staff. Finally, she has been professor of Didactics of Literature at the University School of Teachers of Donostia.
Throughout her literary career, she has received numerous awards and prizes, among which the most traditional prize in Basque literature can be highlighted: Lizardi Prize for Children's Literature in Euskera with the story Txan Fantasma in 1982, and the Euskadi Award for Child and Youth Literature in 1991 with the work Alex. With elephant bird heart was selected for the list of Whitebirds 6 for the year 2001, that compiles the International Library of Children's Book and Juvenile of Munich.
In 2003, she won the National Prize for Children and Youth Literature of the Ministry of Culture of Spain with the same work A crocodile under the bed originally written in the Basque language. And also the same work earned her the honorable mention in the Honor List of the IBBY in 2006. Previously, another work of hers, Iholdi, already had been credited in the same list in the year 1992.
In 2004, the Association of Basque Publishers awarded the Bustintza Prize to one of the writers with the most sales in the Basque Book and Book Fair in Durango.
In 2004, she won the Medal to the Merit Citizen granted by the City council of San Sebastián.
Since 2007, she is Member of number of Jakiunde, Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters of the Basque Country. The OEPLI has presented it as a candidate for the International Andersen Prize in 2008 awarded by the IBBY. Elections in literary promoted by the Federation of Ikastolas of Navarra, was chosen as the most widely read author in the campaign JUUL for reading in 2010 with the book Festa aldameneko gellan, an autobiographical novel.

Associations

The five associations in the Basque language : Basque Publishers, the Association of Writers, Translators, Correctors and Interpreters,, as well as the Galtzagorri Association of Basque Children's and Youth Literature, awarded the Dabilen Elea prize in 2011, in Recognition to her work in Basque letters.
In 2014, she received the Eusko-Ikaskuntza Laboral-Kutxa Prize for Humanities, Culture, Arts and Social Sciences for his contribution to Basque culture in the widest sense, having effectively contributed to the cultural development of Euskadi.
The Basque Institute Etxepare in 2015 in the fifth edition of the course of the UPV / EHU " Excellence in Basque Studies " paid tribute to her being the writer in Euskera whose work has been translated into more languages.
On October 11, 2016, the Galician PEN Center, dedicated to homage from the Galician language and literature the neighboring languages and literary systems: Hispanic, Basque, Catalan and Portuguese, awarded her the Rosalía de Castro Prize to Mariasun Landa for her work in Basque.

Awards