Nicaraguan writer Gioconda Belli wins Reina Sofia poetry prize

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaraguan poet and novelist Gioconda Belli, known for her feminist and erotic literature, has been awarded the Reina Sofia Ibero-American Poetry prize. Considered among Latin America’s best-known writers, Belli’s work has been translated into more than 20 languages and includes 15 poetry collections, eight novels, and seven books of essays, testimonials and children’s stories. The prize announced Monday is considered the most important for Spanish and Portuguese poetry. Her first poems were published in the Managua newspaper La Prensa when she was 20 years old. Her first poetry collection, “Sobre la grama,” or On the Grass, was published in 1972.