María Elena Walsh

About María Elena Walsh

Argentine poet, songwriter and essayist whose work crossed children's-song tradition, folklore and civic protest. 'Como la Cigarra' (1973) became a democratic-resistance emblem during the 1976–83 dictatorship and has been recorded by Mercedes Sosa, Joan Manuel Serrat and dozens of others. Her children's songs ('Manuelita la Tortuga', 'El Reino del Revés') reshaped Argentine songbook for generations; by her death she was acknowledged as one of the country's foundational literary-musical authors.