Nancy Cardenas: Mexican poet & playwright.(Interview)

Nancy Cardenas, Mexican poet and playwright, was born in Coahuila, in 1934. She studied at the Autonomous University of Mexico and at Yale University. She has been employed as a journalist, theatre director, actress and translator.

Cardenas's poetry has appeared in magazines and newspapers in Mexico. Her book, Cuaderno de amor y desamor, soon to be published, articulates a discussion of lesbian love with great beauty and eroticism.

Q: Let's talk a little about your life.

A: Until I was 15 years old, I lived in a 400-year-old small town, with a million trees, 20 thousand people, and only one access road. It is called Parras, and it is in the far north of the country, in the southern part of the state of Coahuila. There I attended primary and secondary school. Then I transferred to the capital of the country, where I pursued a doctorate in Letters (at the National University), and where I have lived and worked to this very day. The experience of small town and urban life has been very useful in forming a personality that maintains an interest in a wide variety of subjects.

Q: When did you begin to write for the theater?

A: During my first year of my university career and then after some ten months as a professional radio actress.

Q: What groups have you worked with in Mexico?