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Enrique Lihn Carrasco (3 September 1929 – 10 July 1988) was a Chileans writer, literary critic, and cartoonist, mostly known as a poet, but who also wrote Essay, Short story, Novel, plays, and Comic book.
Although Lihn initially pursued painting at the university, he ultimately decided to embark on a writing career. Between 1949 and 1955, he published his first two poetry books and penned an essay on the work of Nicanor Parra. In collaboration with Nicanor Parra, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Jorge Sanhueza, Jorge Berti, Roberto Humeres, and Luis Oyarzún, Lihn created Quebrantahuesos, a collage published in 1952. «El Quebratahuesos», Memoria Chilena, s/f; acceso 22.03.2017
Lihn parted ways with mime artist and dancer Ivette Mingram when their daughter Andrea, who would later become an actress, was just a year and a half old. «Andrea Lihn edipo a mucha honra», artículo de Lourdes Andrés archivado en la página sobre Lihn, 16.03.2010; acceso 22.03.2017
In 1963, Lihn published La pieza oscura (The Dark Room), a poetry collection he considered to be his first significant work.Lihn 2008 Vial, Juan Manuel, «Por arte del birlibirloque», pages. 9-16 This book was subsequently translated into French as La chambre noire and published in Paris (Pierre Jean Oswald Editeur, 1972) as a bilingual edition, featuring cover art and illustrations by Roberto Matta. Ficha de La chambre noire, Surdoc, s/f; acceso 22.03.2017
Lihn was an active member of the Popular Action Front in Chile and showed his support for Salvador Allende during the presidential elections of 1958 and 1964.Lihn 2008, Vial, Juan Manuel, «Por arte del birlibirloque», pp. 9-16
During the latter half of the 1960s, Lihn resided in Havana for two years. Cronología de Lihn, Memoria Chilena, s/f; acceso 22.03.2017 «Andrea Lihn edipo a mucha honra», artículo de Lourdes Andrés archivado en la página sobre Lihn, 16.03.2010; acceso 22.03.2017 In Cuba, he engaged in diverse activities, working at Casa de las Américas, writing for the Granma newspaper, composing art catalogs, and editing an anthology of Vicente Huidobro's works. He also fell in love and married a Mulatto, forming close friendships with notable individuals such as Roque Dalton and Padilla affair. Lihn fully immersed himself in Latin American literature and, most importantly, gained firsthand experience of the Cuban Revolution. However, over time, he became disillusioned. Andrés Gómez Bravo. «Lihn, el poeta disidente regresa a Cuba», La Tercera, 31.01.2009; acceso 24.03.2017
Upon his return to Chile in the late 1960s,Lihn 2008, Vial, Juan Manuel, «Por arte del birlibirloque», pages. 9-16 Lihn's affection for Cuba began to wane, mirroring the tension he had witnessed in the country. This strain found expression in the two poetry collections he published in 1969: Escrito en Cuba and La musiquilla de las pobres esferas. The culmination of this change occurred in 1970 when he definitively distanced himself from Cuba due to the accusation of treason against his friend Padilla. Lihn publicly defended Padilla, an act that sealed his permanent separation from the island. Andrés Gómez Bravo. «Lihn, el poeta disidente regresa a Cuba», La Tercera, 31.01.2009; acceso 24.03.2017 Consequently, the Chilean poet became an "uncomfortable author for Cuba," as remarked by Germán Marín, or, in Lihn's own words, a "citizen under suspicion." It was not until almost thirty years later, in 2009, within the framework of the editions of books by Chilean authors published by Casa de las Américas for the Havana International Book Fair—where Chile was the guest of honor—that an anthology of Lihn's work titled Una voz parecida al contrario was finally published. Andrés Gómez Bravo. «Lihn, el poeta disidente regresa a Cuba», La Tercera, 31.01.2009; acceso 24.03.2017
From 1970 to 1973, Lihn directed the poetry workshop at the Catholic University of Chile. He also served as a research professor of literature at the Center for Humanistic Studies, led by Cristián Huneeus, at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile starting in 1972. Cronología de Lihn, Memoria Chilena, s/f; acceso 22.03.2017 During this period, he crossed paths with other cultural figures of the time, including poet and Aesthetics Ronald Kay. In the magazine Manuscritos, Kay highlighted the Quebrantahuesos, poetry murals created by Nicanor Parra, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Lihn using the collage technique. Javier García. «Ronald Kay: "Hoy a los Parra se los trata como una familia real"» , La Tercera, 29.08.2012; acceso 23.09.2017
In 1973, Lihn published his novel Batman en Chile in Argentina, but due to its release coinciding with the coup d'état in Chile, it was not distributed within the country.Nómez, Naín: Poesía chilena contemporánea: breve antología crítica. Andrés Bello, 1992; pág. 291
Two years later, Lihn traveled to France as a guest of the French government. He made a one-month stop in New York, marking his first visit to the United States. During this time, he stayed at Pedro Lastra's house, where he met Óscar Hahn and Jaime Giordano. Lihn also gave readings at several universities, including Yale University, Rutgers, Maryland, Stony Brook, The City University of New York, and the Center of Inter-American Relations. Andrés Florit Cento. «Óscar Hahn: “Enrique Lihn no era un poeta maldito», revista Alpha (Osorno), nº.36 julio de 2013; acceso 24.03.2017 While in France, he wrote París, situación irregular, which was published in Chile in 1977.
In 1976, Lihn published his novel La orquesta de cristal through Editorial Sudamericana, with Héctor Libertella as the editor. In 1980, his third extensive narrative work, El arte de la palabra, was published in Spain. Both of these works feature Gerardo de Pompier (the author's alter ego) and Roberto Albornoz as protagonists and narrators.
In 1978, Lihn received the Guggenheim Fellowship, which brought him to New York for a few months. Cronología de Lihn, Memoria Chilena, s/f; acceso 22.03.2017 His poetry collection A partir de Manhattan was published in Chile in 1979. He subsequently made several visits to the United States as a visiting professor at various universities.
Lihn's creative pursuits extended to writing and staging plays, such as La radio Afiche de La Radio , Memoria Chilena , s/f; acceso 22.03.2017 and Las gallinas, « Las Gallinas de Enrique Lihn, en Sala Agustín Siré», agenda de actividades en el portal de la Universidad de Chile; marzo de 2007; acceso 22.03.2017 Sergio Trabucco Z. «Las Gallinas: ¿y dónde está Enrique Lihn?», portal de la Universidad de Chile, 26.03.2007; acceso 22.03.2017 as well as performances. In 1984, he presented the happening Adiós Tarzán, a parody of the dictatorship. Cronología de Lihn, Memoria Chilena, s/f; acceso 22.03.2017 His recital of the poem El Paseo Ahumada on the eponymous street in downtown Santiago led to a brief arrest by the police in 1983. «Un cómic visita el poema de Lihn “El Paseo Ahumada”» , Viva Leer, 03.03.2014; acceso 22.03.2017 Many of these works, including La aparición de la Virgen, a booklet featuring texts and drawings by Lihn himself, «Enrique Lihn» , artículo de Virginia Vidal publicado originalmente en el semanario Análisis; resumido apareció después en la revista Araucaria, n.º 45, Madrid, 1989; acceso 22.03.2017 were self-financed by the poet and his friends in an attempt to counter the stifling official culture of the military dictatorship era in Chile.
In addition to the illustrations he created for La aparición de la Virgen, Lihn worked on an unfinished comic titled Roma, la loba. He also provided illustrations for other books, including Barlovento's 1949 edition of María Carolina Geel's novel Soñaba y amaba el adolescente Perces.María Carolina Geel. Soñaba y amaba el adolescente Perces, con exordio de Eduardo Barrios; Ediciones Barlovento, Santiago, 1949
His final resting place is located in the Parque del Recuerdo Cemetery, Sector D09, in Santiago, Chile, Sergio Rozas Olavarría. «Enrique Lihn: "No se habla de la vida desde un púlpito ni se hace poesía en bibliotecas» , Revista de Occidente, n.º466, octubre de 2016; acceso 22.03.2017 near the burial site of his dear friend, the poet Stella Díaz Varín. Following his passing, numerous anthologies and previously unpublished works from his extensive body of work were released.
Jorge Edwards, the novelist, drew inspiration from Lihn's remarkable persona to craft the protagonist in his novel La casa de Dostoievsky (Dostoievsky's House).« Jorge Edwards se inspira en Enrique Lihn para evocar su juventud en La Casa de Dostoievsky », La Tercera, 3 de juno de 2008.
Additionally, the Chilean cartoonist Liván (Iván Cornejo) created a comic based on Lihn's work El Paseo Ahumada, which was published by the editorial Das Kapital in 2014. «Un cómic visita el poema de Lihn “El Paseo Ahumada”» , Viva Leer, 03.03.2014; acceso 22.03.2017
Literary critic Juan Manuel Vial noted that Lihn pioneered a style characterized by a fusion of "lyricism, everyday speech, essay, news, artistic appreciations, Anti-poetry, and emotions," which he initiated with his collection Poesía de paso (1966).Lihn 2008, Vial, Juan Manuel, «Por arte del birlibirloque», pages. 9-16
Lihn frequently explored the theme of a painful childhood, an aspect already evident in his work La pieza oscura (1963). Another significant recurring theme in his poetry is travel, which he introduced in Poesía de paso and further explored in works such as Escrito en Cuba (1969), París, situación irregular (1977), A partir de Manhattan (1979), and Estación de los desamparados (1982).Lihn 2008, Vial, Juan Manuel, «Por arte del birlibirloque», pages. 9-16
In addition to poetry, Lihn delved into short story writing and novels. His trilogy focusing on power, language, and "sociosis"—comprising Batman en Chile, La orquesta de cristal, and El arte de la palabra—though not widely acclaimed by national critics, positioned him as part of a movement that broke away from the literary boom, embracing experimental and transgressive Latin American narrative in the 1970s and 1980s. Essayist Héctor Libertella remarked that Lihn's work belonged to a group of "cavemen" who challenged the market-driven strategies and public personas of esteemed authors, contributing to the renewal of continental literature. Lihn's narrative style has been likened to the works of Reinaldo Arenas, Severo Sarduy, Manuel Puig, Salvador Elizondo, and Osvaldo Lamborghini.
Among Lihn's influences, the poet Henri Michaux holds a prominent place. Lihn encountered Michaux's work during his visit to Paris in 1965 and discovered several biographical connections they shared.Lihn 2008, Vial, Juan Manuel, «Por arte del birlibirloque», pages. 9-16
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