Matute, Ana María [key], 1926–2014, Spanish novelist, b. Barcelona. Much of her fiction, which has been translated into more than 20 languages, reflects her searing experiences as a preadolescent during the Spanish civil war. In simple, delicate prose she wrote of isolation, suffering, and anguish. As characters in her novels she favored children, adolescents, and the humble and rejected. Her works include Los Abel (1948), Fiesta al noroeste (1952; tr. Celebration in the Northwest, 1997), Los hijos muertos (1958; tr. The Lost Children, 1965), and Los soldados lloran de noche (1977; tr. Soldiers Cry by Night, 1995). Matute's wartime experiences are reflected in three semiautobiographical novels, Primera memoria (1963; tr. First Memory, in School of the Sun, 1989), La trampa (1973; tr. The Trap, 1996), and Luciérnagas (1993, tr. Fireflies, 1998). Several of her short stories were translated in The Heliotrope Wall and Other Stories (1989). She also wrote children's books and young adult novels. Matute was the recipient of many of Spain's important awards, including the Cervantes Prize (2010).
See studies by M. E. W. Jones (1970) and J. W. Díaz (1971).
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