Manuel Maples Arce was bon in Paplanta, Mexico in 1898. DUring his high school years in Jalapa and Veracruz, he wrote for El Dictamen and La opinión. After graduating, he moved to the capital city to attend the Escuela Libre de Derecho, where he received his law degree. He began to get involved in politics and was able to combine his role as an attorney with his poetry. Maples Arce tried to break free from traditional styles of poetry by experiementing with new ways of expression through art. In 1921 and 1922, he wrote Actual and Andamios interiores, a manifesto and a book of poetry that launched the Stridentism movement. Stridentism lasted from 1921 to 1927 and took place mainly in Mexico City and then in Xalapa. Throughout this period, Maples Arce was in charge of three magazines, Actual, Irradiador, and Horizonte. Some of his famous poems include "Prisma", "Paroxismo", and "Tras los adioses últimos". These poems encompassed a new way of thinking with hopes to revive Mexican culture and break away from tradition. In 1930, Maples Arce traveled to Paris to study diplomatic law, history, and literature at Sorbonne University. Afterwards he returned to Mexico and became the Deputy of Congress of Union in Tuxpan. In 1935, he joined Foreign Services and held various diplomatic positions including, Secretary of Legation in Brussels, Consul General in London and Mexico during World War II and Ambassador of Panama, Chile, Colombia, Japan, Canada, Norway, Lebanon and Pakistan. Manuel Maples Arce died on June 26, 1981.