Tegucigalpa (EFE).- The Nicaraguan Sergio Bustamante Cortez decided six years ago to dedicate himself full time to his passion: writing stories for children. He has now become a benchmark for children’s literature in Nicaragua, with which he seeks to motivate critical thinking in the little ones.
Trilingual, social communicator, lawyer, Bustamante is an emerging but well-known stage oral writer and narrator, who stands out for his literary presentations and his interaction with children and young people. He has performed before thousands of children and works hand in hand with companies that are interested in education in Nicaragua.
For this writer in his thirties, until ten years ago it was a utopia to be able to write, much less print a print run, in a country like Nicaragua, where that industry receives very little support.
The lack of opportunities “is something that motivated me, to be able to open a path, to show that it is a paradigm that an artist cannot live from his art. Yes, it can be possible when you work with determination, with passion, ”he explained in an interview with EFE Bustamante.
Sergio Bustamante, from journalist to writer
He started working in print media, NGOs and call centers. With his savings, he was able, starting in 2017, to start his career as an independent writer by publishing his first work entitled: “Cuentos Loquillos”. A compilation of small stories from everyday life combined with fiction and aimed mainly at young audiences.
However, his passion and goal was always to write for children, but the convulsive situation that Nicaragua experienced in 2018 forced Sergio to put his project on hold and resume it in 2019, when he launched his first children’s book: “Baky, the elegant tapir”, a story in which animals with human characteristics intervene and which invites the conservation of endangered species.
“One of my purposes is to share with children, and one of my important objectives is to provide my country with world-class literature,” said the writer.
That first storybook was released to the public in two languages, in English and Spanish. It also contains high-quality graphics, reading comprehension questions, solving mazes, word searches, rearranging words, among others.
“And all this has a purpose: cognitive development in children, to strengthen their memory, and above all to be able to motivate critical thinking,” he added.
Descendant of the poet Alfonso Cortés
Bustamante, descendant of the Nicaraguan poet Alfonso Cortés (1893-1969), one of the greatest literary exponents of the country, after Rubén Darío (1867-1916), to date has published eight books: six for children and two for young people, printing around 11,000 replicas.
“Although it is true that this figure in other countries is not much, in Nicaragua it is quite a lot,” said the writer, who works with his own funds.
Sergio makes children’s presentations that in Nicaragua is more related to the world of clowns or puppets. The writer performs them with the art of scenic oral narration, a field that has been little explored in the country and that is a communication method to tell stories, using the voice and expressive language.
“I never imagined becoming a storyteller. At some point in my career, I was recognized as a storyteller, more than a writer”, confessed Bustamante, who self-taught himself how to improve in that art.
“Here in Nicaragua there are people who write, but don’t tell stories, and there are people who tell stories, but don’t write, and I was given the privilege of being someone who writes and tells stories. I would think that I am the only writer who dedicates all the time to the narration and to the writing ”, he pointed out.
His books have been very popular with children and many of them tell him about the stories he writes and about being their example as a writer when they grow up.
“I have to say that at the end of the day I am passionate that children can come and tell me: I would like to be a writer like you.”
All his books are based on social problems combined with fiction.
Sergio Bustamante hopes to promote his works and travel to other countries to gain more recognition, as well as continue writing books.
This writer appeared in 2022 in Costa Rica and this year he will do so in Honduras and Guatemala.