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Original article: «Y si era tan buena, ¿por qué se murió?»: Los mitos, funas y poemas que Teresa Wilms Montt nunca escribió pero creemos suyos

By Osvaldo Carvajal M., academic in the Bachelor of Letters and the Ph.D. in Applied Humanities at U. Andrés Bello

What if I told you that the famous poem «I am Teresa Wilms Montt and I am unfit for young ladies» was not written by her, but is a fanfic that became canon?

I too fell for the deception, but that’s not the real gossip today. Join me as we delve into the archives to track a myth that has been constructed and nurtured for over a century by the publishing industry, cinema, and even Drugstore t-shirt shops.

Before I get canceled: I love shirts featuring female writers. I share Javiera Manzi’s idea that there is something profoundly democratic when an artist becomes literal fashion. The issue is not that Teresa Wilms Montt (1893-1921) has turned into a sticker, badge, or t-shirt, but that, existing among many Teresas in the archives, we always choose the same one: the one posing for the camera, holding the gaze, and perfectly embodying the myth of the cursed poet. The same Teresa that patriarchal literary criticism turned into a character to obscure the writer.

In a brilliant article, Norberto Flores noted how famous writers remembered her more for her beauty than her writing: Huidobro described her as «perfect in face, perfect in body, perfect in elegance»; Fernando Santiván referred to her as «an exquisite and demonic girl»; but it was Gómez Carrillo who took it too far, stating, «If she had been born the daughter of a doorkeeper, she could have become an international star.» No comments…

It wasn’t until 1993, with Ruth González Vergara’s monumental biography, that someone spoke of her role as a writer more than her beauty—an admirable archival work that collected her complete works. So when did this habit of putting the author over her work begin? I have a theory.

In May 1922, Carlos George Nascimento published What Has Not Been Said, the first book by Wilms published in Chile. The «editor for Chileans,» as Felipe Reyes calls him, was boosting the Chilean publishing industry and undoubtedly had the best intentions. However, he made two decisions that would forever shape the reception of the author: placing the inseparable photograph on the cover—where she is reclining on her arms, gazing at the camera—and replacing her pseudonyms (Thérèse Wilms Montt or Teresa de la Ɨ) with her legal name.

This was the first time her work and persona merged. And then the conflict arose.

But not from the cover. In January 1923, Ignacio Serrano published in La Nación memories of his friendship with Wilms that turned into a public attack on Nascimento. He accused him of profiting from the writer’s name, recycling published texts, and even fabricating parts of the volume: «It is time to tell him and I challenge that man to show even one of the originals supposedly written by Teresa de la Cruz for this book.» Was Serrano right? Partially.

Indeed, Nascimento compiled the volume from previously published pages of the journal Nosotros, the poetry collections The Three Chants and In the Stillness of Marble, and the unpublished poem «With Hands Together,» preserved by another friend of Wilms. For this reason, it was far from being apocryphal, and the next day, in a letter to La Nación, he made sure to clarify that. But here another interesting detail arises because he also explained that the title What Has Not Been Said was announced in the author’s previous books. And that was true, but…

In an interview with the Argentine magazine Fray Mocho, the author herself stated: «My book ‘Sentimental Concerns’ that I published here and whose edition is already sold out, speaks of Chilean society, and my next book ‘What Has Not Been Said’ will cover the same topic as an expansion of the previous one.” Perhaps Don Carlos’s mistake was using the title of a book that the author never got to write.

To conclude this catalog of misunderstandings, I need to share my own confession. While preparing a course on Chilean Literature, I referred to a contemporary reissue of What Has Not Been Said. It mentioned the poem «Self-Definition,» where the author, like the protagonist of Outlander, said, «I was born a hundred years before you/ yet I see you just like me/ I am Teresa Wilms Montt/ and I am not fit for young ladies.» Without checking the archive, I made an AI video where a colored photograph of the author recited those verses and shared it on social media.

The first comment took me by surprise: «Which book did the text come from?» The person questioning me explained that this poem originated as an exercise in a creative writing workshop and somehow, the internet attributed its authorship to Wilms.

I then understood that the false poem and the t-shirts are not the issue. They are merely the latest chapter in a much older story: that of an author onto whom we have projected our own fantasies for over a century. Perhaps it is time to stop inventing Thérèse Wilms Montt and finally start reading her work.

Osvaldo Carvajal M.

La entrada «If She Was So Great, Why Did She Die?»: The Myths, Conflicts, and Poems Associated with Teresa Wilms Montt That She Never Wrote se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.