Nela Rio

1938-2022

Nela Rio (poet, writer, artist, activist) was born in 1938 in Córdoba, Argentina and spent her teenage years in Mendoza, in the Andes region of Argentina. She studied literature at university in Mendoza. She left Argentina in 1962 for the US and then in 1969 moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick with her first husband, where he taught Spanish at the University of New Brunswick. Rio completed a MA, started working at St. Thomas University, and lived in Fredericton for most of her life. A Canadian citizen since 1977, she taught Spanish language, civilization, and literature at St. Thomas University from the early seventies until her retirement in 2004. A long-time member of the Ibero-American Academy of Poetry (founded in Spain in 1989), she led poetry activities in Fredericton in the Academy’s name, and, in 2009, founded the Fredericton Chapter. In 1989, her collection En las noches que desvisten otras noches (During Nights that Undress Other Nights) was published in Spain by Orígenes from Madrid. In 1992, Ediciones Terremozas, also of Madrid, published Aquella luz, la que estremece (That Light, the One That Trembles). Túnel de proa verde / Tunnel of the Green Prow (1998) and Cuerpo amado / Beloved Body (2002) – were published by Broken Jaw Press and translated by Hugh Hazelton.  El espacio de la luz / The Space of Light (2004) was translated by Elizabeth Gamble Miller. Rio’s trilingual anthology – Sosteniendo la mirada: cuando las imágenes tiemblan/ Sustaining the Gaze: When Images Tremble / Soutenant le regard: Quand les images tremblent (2004) – was also published by Broken Jaw Press. It includes an introduction by Joe Blades and photos by award-winning New Brunswick photographer Brian Atkinson. Still with Broken Jaw Press, Rio published La luna, Tango, siempre la luna / The Moon, Tango, Always the Moon (2010), translated by Edith Jonsson-Devillers. Rio published En el umbral del atardecer… / On the Threshold of Dusk… (2013), translated by Elizabeth Gamble Miller with a prologue by Hugh Hazelton and El laberinto vertical / Vertical Labyrinth (2014) translated by Sophie M. Lavoie and Hugh Hazelton. She edited an anthology of poems dedicated to other women poets – El espacio no es un vacío, incluye todos los tiempos / The Space Isn’t a Blank, It Includes All the Times (Broken Jaw Press). In addition, she co-edited a bilingual anthology with fellow NB writer M. Travis Lane – Los Puentes del Rio San Juan / Bridges over the Saint John River (2011) – that features the work of four NB writers in Spanish translation (Jo-Anne Elder, M. Travis Lane, Lynn Davies, and Joe Blades) alongside four Hispano-Canadian writers translated into English. Rio became the first member of the League of Canadian Poets to be accorded full member status based on books published solely in Spanish. Rio died in Montreal 29 November 2022.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Fredericton

Archival Material

• Nela Río papers
  ⌄
  Location

  DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  MSS 0150, MSS 0150x

  Date Range of Material

  1967-2008

  Extent

   24 boxes (9 linear feet)

  Scope and Content Note

  Nela Rio's fonds consists of manuscripts, drafts, correspondence, academic papers and projects, recordings, and her correspondence and work for the project "La Voz y la Escritura."