 IUGTE Members
Berta Hiriart (Mexico)
Playwright, narrative writer, essayist, theater director and coordinator of literary workshops
 Berta Hiriart has worked in theater, radio, journalism and literature, as well as coordinating creative workshops in all of these areas. She has published some twenty titles among short stories, novels, plays and essays. Most of them are directed to children and young people.
Some of her work has been presented with awards and distinctions. She received the National Award for Published Work in 1994 for the novel Feliz año nuevo (Happy New Year). Her play Adiós, querido Cuco (Good-bye, dear Cuco) got the National Award for Children’s Theatrical Production in 2004 and Cartas a una joven dramaturga (Letters to a Young Female Playwright) received the Award for Theatrical Essay in 2005 (CITRU, Centro Nacional de la Investigación Teatral Rodolfo Usigli, National Center for Research in Theater Rodolfo Usigli – Paso de Gato). Other works have been translated into English, Italian and German and some have been included in schoolroom and teacher libraries (SEP, Public Education Secretariat).
Her most recent books are: Taller de escritura creativa (Creative Writing Workshop) in collaboration with Marcela Guijosa, Editorial Paidós, El mundo del teatro (The World of Theater) and El mundo de la danza (The World of Dance) in collaboration with Estela Leñero, Alejandro Matzumoto and Giovanna Recchia, Editorial El Naranjo, Los años siguientes a la muerte de John Lennon (The Years Following the Death of John Lennon) as part of the anthology La otra mirada, Editorial Plaza y Valdés, La bienvenida (Welcome) Editorial El Naranjo), Escribir para niñas y niños (Writing for Girls and Boys) Editorial Paidós, Niñas de la guerra (Girls of War) Editorial Corunda, Collection “El mejor teatro para niños” (The Best Theater for Children) and the prologue to stories by Oscar Wilde (Editorial Lectorum) and the plays of Suzanne Lebeau (Editorial El Milagro).
Even though she stages most of her own plays, some of her dramatic texts have been brought to life by other directors. Las aventuras de Polo y Jacinta (The Adventures of Polo and Jacinta) was put on by the group Kantil, from Québec; En días de muertos (On the Days of the Dead) by the Ballet Arizona; El deseo de Tomás (Thomas’ Wish) by Marcela Aguilar and Luis Rábago; Los años siguientes a la muerte de John Lennon by a German team (dramatized reading in the Mexartes Festival in Berlin); Salir al mundo (Going Out into the World) by groups in Querétaro, Baja California and Veracruz; Niñas de la guerra by the group La Carrilla from San Luis Potosí and Canciones del ombligo de la luna (Songs from the Moon’s Navel) by Aracelia Guerrero.
She is currently participating in the National Program for Creation of Shows for Children (INBA, National Institute of Fine Arts) and in the National Program for Drama Studies (INBA) as well as the free workshops from the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (National Pedagogic University). She has been a member of the National System of Creators of the FONCA (National Fund for Culture and Art).
Detailed CV
STUDIES
1968-71 Theater studies with masters José Luis Ibañez and Luisa Josefina Hernández.
1975-76 Basic course in Montessori education. International Montessori Association.
1988 Participant in the Training Program for Journalists of the Third World, New York, United Nations.
1990-91 Course in the School of the Mexican Writers Society (SOGEM)
1992 Formative course for coordinators of literary workshops (CONACULTA, National Council for Culture and Arts, SEP, SOGEM).
1996-99 Drama seminars with Migdalia Cruz (USA), José Rivera (USA), María Inés Falconi (Argentina) and Suzanne Lebeau (Quebec).
WORK EXPERIENCE
1971-1981 Member of the independent theater group “Circo, maroma y teatro” which created over 10 plays for children and adults and staged them throughout the country in schools, public plazas, in stages of several workers’ unions, theaters and other forums. The group represented Mexico in the Second Latin American Theater Festival in Caracas with the play Ginecomaquia, written and directed by Hugo Hiriart.
1974 She put together the Children’s Theater Company in the University of Veracruz.
1975-83 Member of the feminist group La Revuelta, which created a newspaper of the same name. In charge of the section Traspatio of the newspaper Uno más Uno.
1979-80 Script writer and host of artistic education shows in Telesecundaria (SEP).
1982 Co-script writer in the radio series Por nosotras mismas (By Ourselves) aimed at rural women. Produced by Radio Educación and CONAPO (National Population Council).
1983 Co-script writer in the series Nosotras las mujeres (We, the women). Radio Mexiquense.
1983 Creator of audiovisual and written materials for divulging information. CONAPO.
1983-88 Co-script writer and co-producer of the series La causa de las mujeres (The Cause of Women) Radio Educación, CONAPO and UNICEF.
1984 Script writer for the children’s television series Viaje por tu cuerpo (A Voyage through your Body) Canal 11.
1984 Performance in the play Siete pecados en la capital (Seven Sins in the Capital) by Otto Minera, under his direction. Casa de la Paz.
1983-96 Contributing Editor of the magazine FEM. Director of the same magazine during 1986.
1983-97 Correspondent for the news agency Fempress 1986 Coordinator of the section La mujer en el mundo (Women in the World) of the El Día newspaper.
1990-96 Co-founder of the Alternative Communication Center “Alaíde Foppa”, whose first mission was to create a radio series about women and human rights, financed by the Global Fund for Women. Later, this team joined the German group Interaktion in the exposition of “Another way of being: Mexican women in motion” presented in the Museo Universitario del Chopo and then in Berlin, Hamburg, Bonn, Munich and Vienna. For five years the group, coordinated by Hiriart, was in charge of the radio branch of Fempress and its press releases reached over 200 radio stations in Latin America.
1991-94 Editorial consultant in the magazine Quehacer de maestra (A teacher’s duty) of the National Union of Workers of Education.
1995 Scriptwriter in a series of documentaries for children “Aventuras por el Arte Mexicano” (Adventures in Mexican Art) (CONACULTA).
1996-2000 Artistic co-director in the International Theater Festival for Children and Young People, TELÓN ABIERTO, Aguascalientes 1997, (CONACULTA, Instituto Cultural de Aguascalientes, Telón Abierto, A.C.).
1999-2004 Consultant in the creation of the artistic education programs for elementary education teachers. SEP.
1995-2004 Jury, among others, for the Colima Narrative Award for Published Work (INBA and Universidad de Colima), Efraín Hernández Award (INBA and Universidad de León, Guanajuato), National Award for the Best Short Story for Children (Publicaciones CONACULTA), Artistic Residence Program Mexico-Canada (FONCA-Ministry of Culture of Canada), International Festival of Theater for Children in Estonia, Theater and short story awards of the FILIJ, Barco de Vapor Awards (SM).
1995-2004 Participation in lecture cycles to promote reading and in several elementary and middle schools, book fairs and others (UNAM, SEP, cultural institutes, FILIJ (International Book Fair for Children and Young People), among others).
1997-2003 Curator in the children’s exposition “El Mundo del Teatro” (The World of Theater) D.F., Aguascalientes, Nuevo León, Veracruz, Yucatán.
WORKSHOPS
1982-84 Coordinator of the workshops “Body and Politics” and “Woman and Society” in the Museo Universitario del Chopo. 1984 Coordinator of the radio workshop for children in the Centro de Invención Permanente.
1986-93 Co-responsible for the workshops “Towards a non-sexist journalism” in CIDHAL (Communication, Exchange and Human Development in Latin America), Casa de la Cultura “Reyes Heroles” and Museo Carrillo Gil.
1987 Coordinator of radio workshops for homeless children. Radio Tabasco.
1989-90 Coordinator of radio workshops in several rural areas in Mexico. National Water Commission and FAO.
1994-95 Co-responsible, in the theater section, of the workshops for the training of cultural promoters that work with indigenous communities. Trust fund for the health of indigenous children, CONAFE (National Council for the Promotion of Education), DIF (Integral Development of Families), among other institutions. 1997 Book-writing workshop for the 10th anniversary of SIPAM (Integral Health for Women).
1993-2006 Coordination of drama and story-telling workshops in the Centro de Comunicación y Desarrollo A.C., Casa Lamm, Instituto Helénico, CASE A.C. (Erongarícuaro, Michoacán), Universidad Iberoamericana, Cultural Institutes of different states, International Theater Festival for Children and Young People “Telón Abierto”, National Program for Training Creators in Show Business for Children of the INBA (Mérida, Ciudad Juárez), National Program for the Development of Playwrights, INBA (Morelia), Universidad Pedagógica Nacional.
DRAMATURGY AND THEATRE DIRECTION
Participation in the collective creation of the plays El cuerpo humano (The Human Body), Pst, pst, aquí estoy (Hey, here I am), Al trabajo (To Work), El cuento que casi no se cuenta (The Story that is Almost Not Told), Yo puedo solo (I Can Do It Myself), Tu vida es tu vida (Your Life Is Your Life), Niños (Children), and Ana y Paula (Ana and Paula). “Circo, maroma y teatro” group. 1971-81.
Las aventuras de Polo y Jacinta. Children’s play written and directed in 1984. During the following two years it was staged at more than 100 hospitals, schools and several theaters throughout the country. It was also staged by the Théatre Kantil of Montreal, Canada, and it has been playing since 1990.
Un día en la vida de Catalina (One day in the life of Catalina). Children’s play adapted from the story of the same title in 1987. This play has been staged at hospitals, schools and several forums in the country with over 200 shows. The last season was held in the Teatro La Gruta in the summer of 94.
Ensayo de luces (Light Rehearsal). Written and directed in 1994.
One season at the Teatro Santa Catarina, UNAM. Adapted and directed for radio as part of the series “Cinco momentos de la escena mexicana contemporánea” (Five moments in the contemporary Mexican scene). Radio Educación. 1995
Fiona y el orlo (Fiona and the bagpipe). Play for all ages that opened in the Museo Franz Mayer in the summer of 95. One season of 160 shows in the School Theater Program and of 6 months in the weekends at the Centro Cultural Helénico. 1995-96.
Días de muertos. Script for the ballet of the same name. Ballet Arizona. 1997-1998.
Ellos y nosotros (Them and us). Play for all ages written and directed in 1996. Functions at the Excolegio Jesuita of Pátzcuaro and a Sunday season at the Teatro Santa Catarina, UNAM. Pierrot Lunaire, of Shoenberg. Direction of the play in the International Festival Música-Escena, Centro Cultural Helénico. 1998.
Salir al mundo. Play for all ages, written and directed in 1999. One season in the Teatro La Gruta of the Centro Cultural Helénico and with the Program Alas y Raíces a los Niños (Wings and Roots for Children) in several forums of the city. Participation in the first Theater Festival for Children in Sinaloa. 1999-2000. Currently it is being brought to stage for the School Theater Program in Baja California and Querétaro.
El deseo de Tomás. Written by Hiriart in 2000 and directed by Marcela Aguilar and Luis Rábago in 2001. One season at the Teatro Helénico.
Crecer o la Ley de Darwin (Growing up or the Laws of Darwin). Theater for teenagers. First Theater Festival for Young People, SOGEM. One season in the Salvador Novo Theater. CNA. 2001.
Los años siguientes a la muerte de John Lennon. Written and directed in 2001. International Art Festival 01 (INBA) and one season in the Sala Villaurrutia of the Centro Cultural del Bosque. Translated into German and represented in dramatized reading ad the Mexartes Festival, Berlin, 2002. Niñas de guerra. Written and directed in 2002.
Música y Escena International Festival. Teatro Helénico and one season at the Teatro Granero of the Centro Cultural del Bosque. 2003. One season in Teatro Escolar (INBA-SEP, 2006. Teatro Coyoacán).
Canciones del ombligo de la luna. Directed by Aracelia Guerrero. Música y Escena International Festival, 2004. CNA. One season in 2005 in the CNA.
Adiós, querido Cuco. Directed by Perla Szuchacher. Seasons in the Sala Villaurrutia (INBA) and the Teatro Helénico, 2005-2006.
PUBLISHED WORKS
Los títeres (The Puppets). Ed. Patria, Mexico, 1981 (currently in its ninth edition). Chosen for the Schoolroom Libraries, SEP.
Co-author of the book La Revuelta: testimonios y reflexiones de mujeres en México (The Uprising: testimonies and reflections of women in Mexico) Ed. Martín Casillas, Mexico, 1984.
Las aventuras de Polo y Jacinta. Children’s story. Ed. Amaquemecan, Mexico, 1985 (currently in its third edition).
Un día en la vida de Catalina. Children’s story. Ed. Cidcli-SEP, México, 1986 (currently in its third edition). Mac Graw Hill included it in an edition for Spanish-speaking children, 1993.
Co-author of the FEM anthology, 10 años de periodismo feminista (10 years of feminist journalism), Ed. Planeta, Mexico, 1988.
La maestra Arellano (Professor Arellano). Story published in the anthology Cosmopolis: urban stories by women, Ed. Cleiss Press, United States, 1990 and in En primer lugar, INBA, 1994.
Feliz año nuevo. Novel. Ed. Tava, Mexico, 1994. Re-published by the Universidad de Guanajuato, 2006.
La bienvenida. Children’s story. Ed. Sámara and CONACULTA, 1994. Re-published by Ed. El Naranjo, 2004.
El deseo de Tomás. Children’s play. Ed. Corunda and CONACULTA, collection El mejor teatro para niños, 1994. Re-published by Ediciones El Milagro, 2001. Narrative version: Ed. El Naranjo, 2004.
De otras realidades (Of Other Realities). Story book. Ed. Tava, 1995.
Las aventuras de Güicho Quintanilla (The Adventures of Güicho Quintanilla). Children’s novel. Ed. Selector, 1996.
Lejos de casa (Far from Home). Story book for adults. UNAM. 1997.
Co-author of El A, B, C de un periodismo no sexista.(The A, B, C’s of a non-sexist journalism), Fempress, 1996.
Ensayo de luces. Play published in the anthology “Teatro para estudiantes de teatro” (Theater for Theater Students). Ed. Árbol. 1996.
En días de muertos. Bilingual edition (English and Spanish) of the Ballet Arizona and Brujas Ediciones. 1997. Re-published by Editorial Everest, 2001. Chosen for the Schoolroom Libraries, SEP.
El club del revés (The Backwards Club). Storybook for children. Ed. Corunda. 1998.
Fiona y la cornamusa (Fiona and the horn). Play. Ed. Corunda and CONACULTA. Collection The Best Theater for Children. 1999.
Vuelo 491 (Flight 491). Story translated into Italian and published in the anthology Un oceano di mezzo. Editorial Stampa Alternativa. 1999.
¿Cómo se llega a nunca jamás? (How do you get to neverland?). Story for teenagers, published in the anthology “Días de pinta”, Ed. Selector, 1996.
Anthology of classic fables for young people, compilation and prologue. Editorial Lectorum, 2000. Chosen for the Schoolroom Libraries, SEP. Los años siguientes (The following years). Novel. CONACULTA. Collection Los Cincuenta. 2000.
Colección de colecciones (Collection of collections). Book for all ages about our passion for things. Ed. Paidós. 2002.
El enigma de la escena teatral (The Enigma of the Theatrical Scene) in the anthology Las Otras Miradas. Paidós. 2002. Chosen for the Teacher’s Library. SEP.
La huelga (The Strike). Story for children published in Abriendo Brecha, IEDF, 2002. ISBN:
Salir al mundo. Play for children. Ed. Corunda-CONACULTA, 2002.
Taller de escritura creativa. Manual with co-author Marcela Guijosa. Editorial Paidós, 2003.
El mundo del teatro. Book for children, written with co-authors Estela Leñero, Alejandro Matzumoto and Giovanna Recchia. Ediciones El Naranjo, 2003. Chosen for the Schoolroom Libraries. SEP.
Prologue for the works of Suzanne Lebau. Editorial El Milagro. 2003. Prologue to the stories of Oscar Wilde. Editorial Lectorum, 2003.
Los años siguientes a la muerte de John Lennon. Theatrical version published in the anthology Escena con otra mirada, Editorial Plaza y Valdés, 2003.
Translation into German Eine unendliche Reise. Theater der Zeit. 2005.
Escribir para niños y niñas (Writing for boys and girls). Editorial Paidós. 2004.
El mundo de la danza (The world of dance). Book for children written with co-authors Estela Leñero, Alejandro Matzumoto and Patricia Cardona. Ed. El Naranjo, 2005. Chosen for the Schoolroom Libraries, SEP.
Cartas a una joven dramaturga. Essay published in the magazine Paso de gato, 2005.
Niñas de la guerra. Play for all ages. Ediciones Corunda, 2005. ¿Jugamos al teatro? (Want to play theater?) Book for small children. Ed. El Naranjo. 2006.
La letra M. Radio theater recorded in compact disc. INBA- Radio Educación, 2006.
Collaboration, among other magazines, in La Jornada Semanal, Pregonarte, Política y Cultura (UAM), Babel (Michoacán), Tragaluz (Jalisco), el Huevo, Border Lines (Canada), Voices of Mexico (international distribution), Correo del maestro, Paso de gato. 1990-2004.
PARTICIPATION IN CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS
"Feminismo en Latinoamérica” (Feminism in Latin America). Yale University, 1988, United States.
“Romper el silencio” (Breaking the silence). Encounter regarding the Expo Otro modo de ser, 1990, Berlin.
“Colonialismo, identidad y género” (Colonialism, identity and gender), 1992, Vienna.
“De mujeres y literatura” (Of women and Literature) encounter of female writers from the southeast of Mexico, Tabasco, 1992. “Mujer y pobreza” (Woman and poverty), Bilbao, 1993. “Campesinas y comunicación” (Female farmers and communication). International Fund for Agricultural Development, Institute of Cooperation for Agriculture and UNIFEM, San José, Costa Rica, 1993.
Encounter of female playwrights. Cincinnati, USA, 1994. Encounter of female writers (PEN, Guadalajara), Jalisco, 1995. Participation in the multi-disciplinary and bi-national workshop Gateways 97. Centro Cultural Guadalupe. San Antonio, Texas. 1997.
Seminar to theater directors for children. ASSITEJ. Kiel, Germany. 1997.
Encuentros Iberoamericanos de Creación Literaria (Literary Creation Encounter of Ibero-American Countries). Santiago de Chile, 1998. Morelia, 1999.
Seminar on Ibero-American Literature. Universidad de Córdoba, Argentina. 1998.
Encounters of writers and illustrators of children’s books. International Book Fair for Children and Young people, Mexico, D.F., 1999.
Instituto Veracruzano de Cultura, 2000. Ibero-American Encounter of Female Playwrights. Mexico. SOGEM. 2000.
5th International Conference for Female Playwrights “Athens 2000”.
AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
- Financial support from the Global Fund for Women for the radio series “Mujeres y derechos humanos”.
- Support from the Program for Promotion of Projects and Cultural Co-investments of the FONCA. 1994, 1997, 1998.
- Colima Narrative Award for Published Work, 1994 for Feliz Año Nuevo.
- Exchange with the Joshua’s Wall Performance Company with support from the Arts Educational Development Project and the Professional Development Fund, 1995.
- Scholarship for the Tri-national Artistic Residence Program. 1996. Canada.
- First place in the Muestra Teatral de Escuelas Secundarias (High School Theater Festival) for the play El deseo de Tomás represented by the Secundaria Teotihuacán. 2000.
- National Award for Children’s Theatrical Production 2004 for Adiós, querido Cuco (INBA-Instituto de Cultura de Coahuila).
- National Award for Theatrical Essay in 2005 for Cartas a una joven dramaturga (Centro de Investigación Teatral of INBA-Paso de Gato Magazine).
- Member of the National System of Art Creators (FONCA-CONACULTA). Since 2001.
BACK TO MEMBERSHIP PAGE
|
