José León Sánchez

José León Sánchez was born in 1929 in Río Cuarto, into an indigenous family, and spent his childhood at the San José orphans' hospice. In 1950 he was accused of the theft of the jewels of the basilica of Cartago, during which a guard was killed, and was sentenced to the penal colony on San Lucas island. There he learned to read and write with the help of a fellow prisoner, then founded a library and a school. The Supreme Court declared him innocent in 1999. Five times winner of the national prize, and winner of the Magón prize in 2017, he died on 15 November 2022 in Heredia.

In the catalogue 1

• NarrativeEl poeta, el niño y el ríoJosé León Sánchez · 1963not translated into EnglishLiterature