SLG Press Contemplative Poetry 8 In 1945 Gabriela Mistral became the first Latin American author to be awarded a Nobel Prize. She was a passionate advocate for many disadvantaged groups in her native Chile, but particularly women and children living in poverty and unable to access education that might help them to improve their lives. She spent much of her life as a teacher, but her poetry reflects the people she met and the situations she encountered through her life. It speaks of a deep empathy with those around her, and of great strength of faith. Her legacy is continued by the many foundations and schools set up in her name. Gallas’s translations bring Mistral’s words to English-speaking audiences, creating new and beautiful works in the canon of literature by Christian poets.