Gioconda Belli

Poetry for me is very easy. It's like a lightning bolt. I feel this calling, and the first line of the poem comes into my head, and I just have to go to the page, to the typewriter, to the computer or whatever and write it. ”

Never was my political stance determined by the men I was with. I had my own ideas. ”

I am convinced that the reason why my kids have become very fulfilled and achieving human beings is because I wasn't raising them alone. ”

It had never crossed my mind that a man could think he had the right to stop me from being who I was. ”

I never thought that sex was wrong, sinful, dirty. When you take away the thought of things being dirty or forbidden, then you can really enjoy your sensuality. ”

There is a biological power that is intrinsic to the woman, to the female condition. Because you are able to give life. You are the reproducer of the species. Men feel very weak in front of a woman because a woman is capable of eliciting a number of instincts in a man. And that is what has made men very nervous about women. ”

My son lives in Nicaragua. My daughters live in the United States. ”

I had a very good sexual education. My mother was very advanced in that regard. She conveyed to me the sense of reverence and wonder about my body and the powers of my sexuality not only to give life, but also to be a whole person and to enjoy pleasure. It was put to me as an almost holy act. ”

I grew up in a very difficult country, a very oppressive situation because of the Somoza dictatorship. My family was in opposition to Somoza; Somoza was a liberal, and my family were conservatives. These were the two traditional parties in Nicaragua. ”

There is nothing quixotic or romantic in wanting to change the world. It is possible. It is the age-old vocation of all humanity. ”