Gloria Fuertes

Hello! My name is Gloria Fuertes, and I want to share my story with you. I was born on July 28th, 1917, in a busy, colorful neighborhood in Madrid, Spain, called Lavapiés. My family didn't have much money, but our home was full of life, and this setting shaped the person I would become. From the time I was very little, my best friend was a notebook. I started writing my own stories and poems when I was just five years old, filling the pages with my thoughts and observations. I even attended a special school for girls, which was a unique opportunity at the time, but what I truly dreamed of was becoming a writer. My passion for words was so strong that I published my very first poem when I was only fourteen. It felt like I was letting the whole world see the secret rhymes and rhythms that danced inside my head, a thrilling and defining moment for me as a young artist.

When I was nineteen years old, in 1936, a terrible war broke out in my country—the Spanish Civil War. It was a frightening and sad time that changed me forever and deeply influenced my worldview. Seeing the conflict and its devastating effects up close made me a lifelong pacifist, which means I believe that war is never the answer to solving problems. After the war ended in 1939, I knew I had to use my words to talk about peace and justice. I found a job working as a librarian, where I was surrounded by thousands of stories, but I was also busy writing my own. In 1950, I reached a significant milestone when I published my first book of poetry for adults, which I called 'Isla Ignorada' or 'Ignored Island.' It felt like I was inviting people to visit the island of my own thoughts and feelings, a personal place that had been just for me until then.

I believed that poetry wasn't just for serious grown-ups in quiet rooms—it was for everyone, especially children. I dedicated much of my career to writing funny, surprising, and thoughtful poems and stories just for kids. I wanted to make them laugh, think, and see the world in a new way. In the 1970s, something amazing happened that brought my work to a much wider audience: I began appearing on children's television shows in Spain, like 'Un globo, dos globos, tres globos.' Suddenly, kids all over the country knew my name and my rhymes. It was a joy to connect with so many young people directly through the screen. My writing, for both kids and adults, always carried important messages. I wrote about being fair to everyone, protecting our planet, and being brave enough to be yourself. I was a feminist, standing up for the rights of women, and I was also openly in a loving relationship with a woman named Phyllis Turnbull, which was very unusual and courageous in Spain at that time.

I spent my entire life writing, filling notebooks with poems and stories that I hoped would build a kinder, more peaceful world. I wanted my words to be like open doors, inviting everyone inside to think, feel, and understand one another better. I lived to be 81 years old and passed away in my beloved city of Madrid on November 27th, 1998. Today, many people in Spain remember me as 'the poet of the children,' and my books are still read in homes and schools. I hope my work continues to inspire everyone, young and old, to find the poetry in their own lives and to always speak up for what is right.