Blanca Varela was born in 1926 to a Peruvian family of writers passionate about art. This passion would be passed on to Blanca from a young age. As a teenager, she enrolled at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, where she studied Literature and Education.
During this stage of her life, she met people who would influence her career: Sebastián Salazar Bondy, Javier Sologuren, Jorge Eduardo Eielson, and Francisco Bendezú.
In 1947, she began working at Las Moradas, an important magazine in Westphalen. She also attended the Peña Pancho Fierro gathering, run by Alicia and Celia Bustamente.
That same year, she married the Peruvian painter Fernando de Szyszlo. In 1949, she moved to Paris to meet the group of Latin American intellectuals living in France. During this time, she connected with artists such as Sartre, Michaux, Simone de Beauvoir, and Tamayo. Impressive!
For a time, she lived in Mexico, directing the Peruvian branch of the Fondo de Cultura Económica (Economic Fund for Culture). In 1957, she traveled to Washington, D.C., to dedicate herself to translation and journalism. That same year, Sebastián Salazar Bondy and Alejandro Romualdo included Blanca in their General Anthology of Peruvian Poetry. In 1960, she returned to Lima, where she collaborated with the magazine Oiga, writing film reviews.
Her life was filled with recognition and challenging jobs. Between 1977 and 1979, she served as secretary general of the Peruvian Center of the International PEN Club and traveled the world in this capacity. Later, in 1996, she received the Gabriela Mistral International Medal. This award, granted by the Chilean government, recognizes the talent and contributions of professionals in the field of culture.
Among all her artistic talents, Blanca Varela excelled above all in poetry. For this reason, she is recognized as one of the leading voices of Latin American lyrical poetry. Many specialists compare her to leading figures such as Juana Ibarbourou and Gabriela Mistral. Her poetic work is characterized by its search for truth through irreverence, irony, rawness, and mysticism.
Blanca Varela passed away in 2009, but her cultural contribution, her poetry, and her legacy live on in the history of Peru and the world. Her work has been translated into several languages and continues to touch more people. Her most notable works are Concierto animal (Animal Concert), Canto Villano (Village Song), and Valses y otras confesiones (Waltdles and Other Confessions). Her life represented the many women who make a name for themselves through their artistic talent.