Original Version Documentary 43 minutes is DVD only. NTSC DVD only has Bonus Feature of more interviews/outtakes with writers From the Committed Generation. DVD available for institutions only.

Rental of documentary alone, without access to DVD Bonus Feature is available in an online Vimeo format. Go to Contact button to make any rental requests.

The story of writer Manlio Argueta’s novels is recognized as representative of Salvadoran literature: Argueta is his country’s only living writer translated into more than a dozen languages. Once Manlio Argueta entered the University of El Salvador, the socio-political turbulence of San Salvador drew him into a life he could hardly have imagined. Young and established poets approached Manlio at university. He had long admired, but never met these writers who recruited the young poet into their literary movement influenced by the revolutionary currents of their time.  By the late 1950s and early 1960s, the group’s visions of national identity became known as The Committed Generation, the literary soul of El Salvador, which helped redefine a nation’s history through their written and spoken words.

“As a Salvadoran woman, I choose to bring to life-on-film this writer whose unique flavor represents what it is to be a writer in a country historically known primarily for its civil war and its complicated years in the 1980s. Lastly, as a person of culture, I am alarmed at the lack of interest in our literature and in our literary giants in communities-in-exile as well as in El Salvador.”

—Director, Carolina Rivera

"Poets and Volcanoes" captures an important national literary historiography through the life of Manlio Argueta---El Salvador's most renowned writer.  This is a must-see documentary for any classroom discussion on the role of the writer in any society.”  

“Poetas y Volcanoes, Manlio Argueta” captura una importante histografía literaria nacional a través de la vida de Manlio Argueta-el escritor más conocido de El Salvador.  Este es un documental esencial para discusiones en clases sobre el papel del escritor en la sociedad.”

—Gloria Chacón, PhD, Mesoamerican Specialist, Charles Young Research Library, UCLA

“The documentary ‘Poets & Volcanoes, Manlio Argueta’ has been an invaluable resource in my Chicano Studies courses. It helps students contextualize and envision the experiences lived by so many in El Salvador. I was most appreciative of its contributions upon hearing a student comment:  ¨It made me so sad to see the University library destroyed. I did not know books could be so powerful. This documentary is a bridge connecting historical events, lives lived and students’ present day realities.”

—Maria R. Ambriz, Cultural Studies professor, Chicanx and Latinx Department Studies, California State University, Los Angeles