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Tunnel to Canto Grande tells the dramatic story of how the Peruvian Tupac Amuru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) tunneled into an "escape proof" penitentiary, Canto Grande, to free forty-eight political prisoners on July 9, 1990. The prisoners escaped through the tunnel without a single casualty and eluded the authorities. Because of their world-wide reputation as writers of testimony, the authors, Alegria and Flakoll, were invited by MRTA leaders to write the exclusive story of the escape. At no small risk to their own safety, they spent a week in the most hunted-for safehouse in Lima, Peru, interviewing the participants in the project and the escapees. The resulting narrative is filled with suspense, drama and humor.
About the author
Claribel Alegría was a Salvadorian-Nicaraguan poet, essayist, novelist, and journalist who was a major voice in the literature of contemporary Central America. She has been called "one of the region's finest writers" by
The Washington Post. Alegría published over forty books, including fifteen collections of poetry, and was a recipient of the Casa de las Americas Prize of Cuba. Her works in English include
Ashes of Izalco, Luisa in Realityland, and
Family Album. She was awarded the 2006 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. She died in 2018.
In 1947 Alegría married the U.S.-born journalist Darwin J. ("Bud") Flakoll; they had three daughters and one son. Flakoll coauthored some of her novels and translated much of her work into English. He died in 1995. Alegría's
Sorrow, a collection of love poems, was written for her deceased husband.
