About Carmen Rodríguez

Born in Valdivia, Chile, bilingual writer Carmen Rodríguez came to Canada as a political exile in 1974. She is the author of Guerra Prolongada/Protracted War (Women’s Press, 1992), a volume of poetry; and a body to remember with/De Cuerpo Entero (Arsenal Pulp Press/Editorial Los Andes, 1997), a collection of short stories; and two novels: Retribution (Women’s Press Literary, 2011) and Atacama (Fernwood/Roseway Publishing, 2021). Chiles Døtre, the Norwegian version of Retribution was released in 2013 by Oslo's Juritzen Forlag.

De Cuerpo Entero was awarded an Honorary Mention of Santiago’s “Premio Municipal de Literatura” in 1998, while and a body to remember with was a finalist for the Vancouver Book Award, also in 1998. Retribution obtained second place in the Best Popular Novel category of the 2012 International Latino Book Awards, while in 2022, Retribution was awarded an Honorary Mention in the Best Historical Novel category of those same awards. 

In addition to being a writer, Rodríguez has worked extensively as an educator and journalist. Until her retirement in 2012, she taught in the Latin American Studies Program of Simon Fraser University and was Vancouver correspondent for the Spanish language section of Radio Canada International. Also, she was a founding member and part of the editorial board of Aquelarre Magazine, a bilingual Latin American women's quarterly published in Vancouver between 1988 and 1997.