Daniel Sada

Who was Daniel Sada?

Daniel Sada was a Mexican poet, journalist and writer, whose work has been hailed as one of the most important contributions to the Spanish language. He organized many poetry workshops in Mexico City and several other cities. He was granted a scholarship by the INBA and FONCA and, since 1994, he was member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte.

His novels stand out for their internal rhythm and unorthodox use of archaic metric forms and colloquialisms. His work has been described as baroque and tragicomic. Author Juan Villoro stated: "He renewed the Mexican novel with Because it seems to be a lie, the truth is never known" and, according to the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño: "Daniel Sada is undoubtedly writing some of the most ambitious works in the Spanish language". Rafael Lemus said: "Sada...is one of the most extreme reformers of the language, the boldest among Mexicans".

In 2008 he won the prestigious Herralde Prize for his novel Almost Never. He also won the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize in 1992 and the Jose Fuentes Mares National Literature Prize in 1999. His works have been translated into English, German, French, Dutch, Bulgarian and Portuguese.