María Teresa Andruetto

Andruetto was born in Arroyo Cabral, Argentina, to parents of Piedmontese Italian descent. She spent her childhood in the town Oliva, Córdoba.[4] She is trained as a teacher and has worked in both primary and secondary schools. She has two daughters and lives with her husband in an area of the Sierras de Córdoba.

The construction of the individual and the social identity, the aftermath of the dictatorship in her country, and the feminine world are some of the main focuses in her work. Her books, read both by adults and young readers, break up generational barriers. She has published the novels "Tama" (Alción, 2003), "La mujer en cuestión" (DeBolsillo, 2009), and "Lengua Madre" (Mondadori, 2010), the short stories "Stefano" (Sudamericana, 2001), "Veladuras" (Norma, 2005), and "La niña, el corazón y la casa" (Sudamericana, 2001), the storybook "Todo movimiento es cacería" (Mondadori, 2012), the book of poems "Palabras al rescoldo" (1993), "Pavese" (1998), "Kodak" (2001), and "Beatriz" (2005) in Ediciones Argos, "Paves/Kodak" (Del dock, 2008), "Tendedero" (CILC, 2010), and "Sueño Americano" (Caballo negro, 2009), as well as numerous books for children and young readers, such as "El anillo encantado" (1993), "Huellas en la arena" (1998), "La mujer vampiro" (2001), "El País de Juan" (2005), "El árbol de lilas" (2006), "Trenes" (2009), "El incendio" (2009), "Campeón" (2010), "La durmiente" (2010), "Solgo" (2011), and "Miniaturas" (2011). Involved for thirty years in the field of children's literature, she has worked in the training of teachers and has founded centres of study and lecture programs. She is a guest professor at numerous facilities specialised in the formation of graduates and postgraduates and a guest author in congresses, seminars, exhibitions, and conferences, both in her home country and abroad.

She has obtained, due to her narrative, the awards Luis de Tejeda 1993, Fondo Nacional de las Artes 2002, and was finalist for the award Rómulo Gallegos in 2011 for her novel "Lengua Madre." Has been on the Honor List of IBBY, Premio Iberoamericano a la Trayectoria en Literature Infantil SM in 2009. She gathered her experience in literature workshops into two books realised in collaboration, "La escritura en el taller" (Anaya, 2008) and "El taller de escritura en la escuela" (Comunicarte, 2010), and her reflections in "Hacia una literatura sin adjetivos" (Comnuicarte, 2009). Her work has served as the foundation for the creation of other artists, and she has inspired works such as artist books, short films, poetic-musical performances, choreographies, storytelling shows, theatre adaptations, among others. Storytellers in Spain and Latin America narrate her stories and her books are a subject of study in Argentine, American, and European universities. She moderates Blog de Narradoras Argentinas and co-leads a collection of Argentine narrators in Editorial Universitaria EDUVIM.

The biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award conferred by the International Board on Books for Young People is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. Andruetto received the writing award in 2012.[1][2][3]

The jury led by María Jesús Gil cited "her mastery in writing important and original works that are strongly focused on aesthetics. She creates sensitive books, which are deep and poetic with a clear literary base. Her books relate to a great variety of topics, such as migration, inner worlds, injustice, love, poverty, violence or political affairs."[3]

Throughout her career, she has received the following awards:

• Premio Hans Christian Andersen de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil, 2012.
• Premio Iberoamericano SM de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil en su V Edición (2010)
• Premio Novela del Fondo Nacional de las Artes
• Premio Novela Luis de Tejeda
• Premio Internacional de Cuento Tierra Ignota
• Lista de Honor de IBBY
• Finalista del Premio Sent Sovi/Ediciones Destino
• Finalista Premio Clarín de Novela
• White Ravens de la Internationale Jugendbibliothek
• Mejores Libros del Banco del Libro de Caracas
• Destacados de la Asociación de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil Argentina.

• Biography from Berlin International Literature Festival
• Maria Andruetto at The International Literary Quarterly
• Blog de Narradoras Argentinas
• María Teresa Andruetto at Library of Congress, with 18 library catalog records