María Enriqueta Camarillo y Roa de Pereyra (19/01/1872 Coatepec – 13/02/1968 Mexico City) was a writer who belonged to the modernist movement. She published poetry and fiction in newspapers and magazines such as El Universal, El Mundo Ilustrado and Revista Azul. She also graduated as a pianist from the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico, composed musical works, gave concerts, and gave piano lessons. In fact, in his literary work, music is important, both in the musicality of his poetry and in the metaphorical language. She also taught Spanish and was a translator. Camarillo’s work had great repercussions and recognition by contemporary critics. In 1951, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Her biography is marked by travel, as her father’s work took the family from Coatepec to Mexico City and, a few years later, to Nuevo Laredo. Later, when she married Carlos Pereyra, she lived in Cuba, the United States, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and Spain. In 1948, she returned to Mexico, where she died at age 96.
María Enriqueta recounts her impressions of her pilgrimage through Europe between 1913 and 1927 in the travel book:
M. E. Camarillo: Brujas, Lisboa, Madrid (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1930)
REWIND analyses this book to approach the European cultural heritage of the first half of the 20th century from a sensory point of view. Unlike other travel accounts, Camarillo does not provide information about the route or the monuments he visits but rather makes a series of brushstrokes that illustrate the impressions he gets from the colours, smells, and sounds of the streets he passes through. Those who have visited Bruges, Lisbon and Madrid will understand that the work combines history with novels and poetry.
Here are some bibliographical references in case you would like to know more about María Enriqueta Camarillo:
- Dotor, Ángel (1943): María Enriqueta y su obra (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe)
- Fiscal, María Rosa (1997): “Reencuentro con María Enriqueta”. In Ana Rosa Domenella & Nora Pasternac (eds.), Las voces olvidadas. Antología crítica de narradoras mexicanas nacidas en el siglo XIX (México: Colegio de México): 181-199.
- Martínez Andrade, Marina (2011): “María Enriqueta Camarillo de Pereyra: Escritora, Maestra y Viajera”. In Sara Beatriz Guardia (ed.), Viajeras entre dos mundos (Dourados: Centro de Estudios de la Mujer en la Historia de América Latina): 559-577.
- Phillipps-López, Dolores (2020): “Narradoras mexicanas del modernismo: las tribulaciones editoriales de Betanzo, Méndez y Camarillo”, (an)ecdótica, IV (1): 53-70.
- Soltero Sánchez, Evangelina (2002): María Enriqueta Camarillo: La obra narrativa de una mexicana en Madrid (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) [tesisdoctoral]
- Villanueva Eguia Lis, Susana (2018): Prefeminismo Azul: La poética Modernista de María Enriqueta Camarillo y Roa (Madrid: Editorial Pliegos).