Carmen Aguirre

Date of birth

1967

Point of origin

Chile

Aguirre and her parents came to Canada in 1973 as refugees, but in 1979 the family rejoined the Chilean underground, helping resisters to safety.

Culture

Carmen Aguirre in braids sitting hugging a suitcase.

Carmen Aguirre performs in her one-woman show, Chile Con Carne, a semi-autobiographical performance of the experiences of a refugee child.

Alejandra Aguirre

Carmen Aguirre sitting at a desk facing standing people in back view.

Carmen Aguirre (seated) signs copies of her book, Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter, at the Canadian Museum of Immigration, 2018.

Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 22

Carmen Aguirre speaks at the Canadian Museum of Immigration, 2018, during an event supporting an exhibition on the history of refugee settlement in Canada.

Carmen Aguirre standing between pillars.

Seen here in Toronto in 2011, after the publication of the award-winning Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter, her account of her family’s history in the Chilean resistance.

Steve Russell via Getty Images

Portrait of Carmen Aguirre in blue with her left arm crossing over to her right shoulder.

Carmen Aguirre crafted a play, Blue Box, exploring the collisions of love and sacrifice based on her personal and political experiences.

Andrew Alexander

Carmen Aguirre, 1967- , Chile.

Aguirre and her parents came to Canada in 1973 as refugees, but in 1979 the family rejoined the Chilean underground, helping resisters to safety. Aguirre returned to Vancouver at age 22. Her career as an award-winning author and a distinguished playwright, as well as a theatre organizer and actor, reflects her political experiences.