# Lina Meruane

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{{short description|Chilean-Palestinian writer and professor (born 1970)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Lina Meruane
| image         = Meruane, Lina -Puertodeideas 2016 fRF03.jpg
| alt           = 
| caption       = 2016
| birth_name    = Lina Meruane Boza
| birth_date    = {{Birth year and age|1970}}
| birth_place   = [Santiago](/source/Santiago), Chile
| death_date    = 
| death_place   = 
| nationality   = 
| other_names   = 
| family        = [Ricardo Meruane](/source/Ricardo_Meruane) <br/><small>([uncle](/source/uncle))</small><br/>[Nelly Meruane](/source/Nelly_Meruane) <br/><small>([great-aunt](/source/great-aunt))</small>
| occupation    = Writer, professor
| years_active  = 
| known_for     = 
| notable_works = {{Plainlist|
* ''Fruta podrida'' (2007)
* ''Sangre en el ojo'' (2012)
}}
| spouse        = 
| children      = 
| awards        = {{Plainlist|
* [Anna Seghers-Preis](/source/Anna_Seghers-Preis) (2011)
* [Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize](/source/Sor_Juana_In%C3%A9s_de_la_Cruz_Prize) (2012)
}}
| alma_mater    = [New York University](/source/New_York_University)
}}
'''Lina Meruane Boza''' (born 1970) is a [Chile](/source/Chile)an writer and professor.<ref name=CQB>{{Cite web |url=http://www.agencialiterariacbq.com/autores/lina-meruane/ |title=Lina Meruane |publisher=Agencia Literaria CBQ |language=Spanish |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423060250/http://www.agencialiterariacbq.com/autores/lina-meruane/ |archive-date=23 April 2015 |access-date=4 February 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Her work, written in Spanish, has been translated into 12 languages --English, Italian, Portuguese, German, French and Arabic, among others. In 2011 she won the [Anna Seghers-Preis](/source/Anna_Seghers-Preis) for the quality of her work, in 2012 the [Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize](/source/Sor_Juana_In%C3%A9s_de_la_Cruz_Prize) for her novel ''Sangre en el ojo''.<ref name=Sor>{{Cite web |url=http://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/2012/10/30/chilena-lina-meruane-gana-xx-premio-de-literatura-sor-juana-ines-en-mexico.shtml |title=Chilena Lina Meruane gana XX premio de literatura Sor Juana Inés en México |trans-title=Chilean Lina Meruane Wins 20th Sor Juana Inés Literature Prize in Mexico |publisher=[Radio Bío-Bío](/source/Radio_B%C3%ADo-B%C3%ADo) |agency=AFP |language=Spanish |date=30 October 2012 |access-date=4 February 2018}}</ref>

==Biography==
Born in [Santiago](/source/Santiago), Chile, Lina Meruane is of [Palestinian](/source/Palestinians) and [Italian](/source/Italians) descent. She is the niece of actress [Nelly Meruane](/source/Nelly_Meruane) and comedian [Ricardo Meruane](/source/Ricardo_Meruane).

She started writing as a storyteller and cultural journalist. In 1997 she received a writing grant from [FONDART](/source/FONDART) to finish her first book of stories.<ref name=CQB/> The following year she published ''Las infantas'', a book that received a very positive critique from Chilean reviewers, as well as writer [Roberto Bolaño](/source/Roberto_Bola%C3%B1o):
{{Quote|There is a generation of (Chilean) writers who promise to devour it all. At the head, clearly, two stand out. These are Lina Meruane and [Alejandra Costamagna](/source/Alejandra_Costamagna), followed by [Nona Fernández](/source/Nona_Fern%C3%A1ndez) and five or six other young women armed with all the implements of good literature.|source=Roberto Bolaño, February 1999<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WG1lAAAAMAAJ&q=%22seguidas+por+Nona+Fern%C3%A1ndez+y+por+otras%22 |title=Entre paréntesis: ensayos, artículos y discursos (1998–2003) |trans-title=In Parentheses: Essays, Articles, and Speeches (1998–2003) |chapter=Fragmentos de regreso a un país natal |trans-chapter=Fragments of Return to a Native Country |first=Roberto |last=Bolaño |publisher=[Editorial Anagrama](/source/Editorial_Anagrama) |isbn=9788433962102 |page=67 |language=Spanish |year=2004 |access-date=4 February 2018 |via=Google Books}}</ref>}}

Meruane published two novels before leaving for New York to do her doctorate studies in Spanish-American literature at [New York University](/source/New_York_University).<ref name=CQB/><ref name=nearts/><ref name="sfischerprof">{{cite web | title=Lina Meruane | website=Samuel Fischer Gastprofessur | date=2023-09-28 | url=https://sfischerprof.de/en/professor/lina-meruane/ | access-date=2026-01-29}}</ref> In the United States she received a [fellowship](/source/Guggenheim_Fellowship) from the [Guggenheim Foundation](/source/John_Simon_Guggenheim_Memorial_Foundation) in 2004 (for the novel ''Fruta Podrida''),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/lina-meruane/ |title=Lina Meruane |publisher=[Guggenheim Foundation](/source/John_Simon_Guggenheim_Memorial_Foundation) |access-date=4 February 2018}}</ref> and another in 2010 from the [National Endowment for the Arts](/source/National_Endowment_for_the_Arts) (for ''Sangre en el ojo'').<ref name=nearts/>

In 2011 she received the Anna Seghers-Preis,<ref name="annaseghers"/> and the following year she won the 20th [Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize](/source/Sor_Juana_In%C3%A9s_de_la_Cruz_Prize) for ''Sangre en el ojo'', during the [Guadalajara International Book Fair](/source/Guadalajara_International_Book_Fair), with a jury made up of the writers [Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro](/source/Yolanda_Arroyo_Pizarro), [Antonio Ortuño](/source/Antonio_Ortu%C3%B1o), and [Cristina Rivera Garza](/source/Cristina_Rivera_Garza).<ref name=Sor/>

Meruane has lived in New York since 2000.<ref name="sfischerprof"/> As of 2026 she teaches Creative Writing in Spanish and Latin American Cultures, Arts and Cultures at [New York University](/source/New_York_University).<ref>{{cite web | title=Lina Meruane | website=NYU Liberal Studies | url=https://liberalstudies.nyu.edu/about/faculty-listing/lina-meruane.html | access-date=2026-01-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Lina Meruane – Creative writing in spanish NYU KJCC | website=Web Publishing | date=2006-09-08 | url=https://wp.nyu.edu/cwskjcc/autores/lina-meruane/ | access-date=2026-01-29}}</ref><ref name=nearts/>

==Grants and awards==
* 1997: Grant. National Council for the Arts, FONDART, Chile, for ''Las Infantas'' ([National Council of Culture and the Arts](/source/National_Council_of_Culture_and_the_Arts))
* 2004: Grant. John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Latin American and Caribbean Fellowship for ''Fruta podrida''
* 2006: Award. Best Unpublished Novel, for ''Fruta podrida'' ([National Council of Culture and the Arts](/source/National_Council_of_Culture_and_the_Arts))<ref name=Sor/>
* 2010: Grant. National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, for ''Seeing Red''.<ref name=nearts>{{cite web | title=Lina Meruane | website=National Endowment for the Arts | url=https://www.arts.gov/impact/literary-arts/creative-writing-fellows/lina-meruane | access-date=2026-01-29}}</ref>
* 2011: Award. [Anna Seghers-Preis](/source/Anna_Seghers-Preis), por her literary work<ref name=Sor/><ref name="annaseghers">{{cite web | title=Anna Seghers-Stiftung – Anna Seghers Gesellschaft | website=Anna Seghers Gesellschaft | date=2025-10-26 | url=https://anna-seghers.de/anna-seghers/anna-seghers-stiftung/ | language=de | access-date=2026-01-29}}</ref>
* 2012: Award. [Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize](/source/Sor_Juana_In%C3%A9s_de_la_Cruz_Prize), for ''Sangre en el ojo''<ref name=Sor/>
* 2015: Award. Institute of Chilean-Arab Culture Award, for ''Volverse Palestina''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.federacionpalestina.cl/noticia.php?id=376 |title=Hoy: Instituto Chileno-Árabe de Cultura premiará a escritora Lina Meruane |trans-title=Today: Institute of Chilean-Arab Culture Will Award Writer Lina Meruane |publisher=Federación Palestina |language=Spanish |date=6 August 2015 |access-date=4 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205101700/http://www.federacionpalestina.cl/noticia.php?id=376 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 2015: Award. Cálamo Another Look, for ''Fruta podrida'' ([Zaragoza](/source/Zaragoza))<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://diario.elmercurio.com/2016/02/06/actividad_cultural/actividad_cultural/noticias/D97F63C1-5D81-4B3E-8669-06FEFA1CBB19.htm?id={D97F63C1-5D81-4B3E-8669-06FEFA1CBB19} |title=El buen momento de la literatura chilena |trans-title=The Good Moment for Chilean Literature |work=[El Mercurio](/source/El_Mercurio) |language=Spanish |date=6 February 2016 |access-date=4 February 2018}}</ref>
* 2017: Grant. Artists-in-Berlin Program, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service; for ''Sistema Nervioso''.
* 2023: Award. {{ill|Premio José Donoso|es}}<ref>{{cite web | title=Escritora chilena Lina Meruane es la ganadora del Premio Iberoamericano de Letras José Donoso 2023 | website=El Mercurio | date=2023-09-08 | url=https://www.emol.com/noticias/Espectaculos/2023/09/08/1106661/lina-meruane-premio-jose-donoso.html | language=es | access-date=2026-01-29}}</ref>

==Works==
===Short stories===
* ''Las infantas'', Planeta, Santiago, Chile, 1998 (Eterna Cadencia, Argentina, 2010), {{ISBN|9789871673070}}
* ''Avidez'', Paginas de Espuma, Spain, 2024 

===Novels translated into English===
*''Seeing Red'' translated by Megan McDowell, Deep Vellum, USA (Atlantic Books, UK, 2016), {{ISBN|9781941920251}}; original edition ''Sangre en el ojo'' 
*''Nervous System'' translated by Megan McDowell, Graywolf, USA, 2021 (Atlantic Books, UK, 2021); original edition ''Sistema Nervioso'' 

===Novels in original Spanish===
* ''Póstuma'', Planeta, Santiago, 2000 (Oficina Do Livro, Portugal, 2001)
* ''Cercada'', Cuarto Propio, Santiago, 2000 (Cuneta Editores, Santiago, 2014 with prologue by Lorena Amaro)
* ''Fruta podrida'', Fondo de Cultura Económica, Santiago, 2007 (Eterna Cadencia, 2015), {{ISBN|9789562890601}}
* ''Sangre en el ojo'', Caballo de Troya, Spain, 2012 (Penguin Random House, 2015) 
* ''Sistema Nervioso'', Penguin Random House, Chile & Spain, 2019

===Drama===
* ''Un lugar donde caerse muerta / Not a leg to stand on'', dramatic adaptation of the novel ''Fruta podrida'' by the author and the Chilean theater director Martín Balmaceda; bilingual edition with prologue by Guillermo Calderón and English translation by Sarah Thomas, Diaz Grey Editores, 2012 (Trópico Sur, Uruguay, 2013)  
thumb|Meruane signing her books at the 2016 Puerto de Ideas cultural festival

===Nonfiction===
* ''Viral Voyages. Tracing AIDS in Latin America'', translated by Andrea Rosenberg, Palgrave MacMillan, 2014, {{ISBN|9781137394996}}; original edition ''Viajes virales: la crisis del contagio global en la escritura del sida'', essay, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Santiago 2012, {{ISBN|9789562891042}}
* ''Volverse palestina'', chronicle, Literal Publishing, USA / Conaculta, Mexico, 2013, {{ISBN|9789568228866}}
* ''Palestina en Pedazos'', chronicle/personal essay; Literatura Random House, Santiago, 2021 
* ''Contra los hijos'', essay-diatribe, Tumbona, Mexico, 2014, {{ISBN|9789569766626}} and Penguin Random House, 2018  {{ISBN|9788439734062}}
* ''Zona Ciega'', essay, Penguin Random House, 2021 
* ''Coloquio de las quiltras'', essay, Debate, 2024

===Visual essays===
* ''Cinco personas en busca de su personaje'', ongoing project, first part directed by Luciano Piazza

===In English language journals ===
''Two Lines'' (California), ''[Bomb](/source/Bomb_(magazine))'' (New York), ''[The Literary Review](/source/The_Literary_Review)'' (New York), ''Brick'' (Canada), ''N+1'' (New York), ''Words without Borders'' (New York), ''Drunken Boat'' (US), ''The White Review'' (UK), ''Litro Magazine'' (UK), ''Brown Book'' (Arab Emirates), ''Asymptote'' (US), among others in several languages.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{OL author|OL48025A}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meruane, Lina}}
Category:1970 births
Category:20th-century Chilean women writers
Category:21st-century Chilean women writers
Category:Chilean educators
Category:21st-century Chilean women educators
Category:21st-century Chilean novelists
Category:Chilean people of Italian descent
Category:Chilean people of Palestinian descent
Category:20th-century Chilean short story writers
Category:Chilean women short story writers
Category:Living people
Category:New York University alumni
Category:New York University faculty
Category:National Endowment for the Arts Fellows
Category:Writers from Santiago, Chile
Category:Chilean expatriates in the United States
Category:Chilean women novelists
Category:Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize winners

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lina Meruane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Meruane) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Meruane?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.