Ruth Patricia Rodríguez Serrano (Loja, 1966) is a poet, fiction writer, and professor at the University of San Francisco of Quito. In 2005, she received the Pablo Palacio literary merit award from the Provincial Council of Loja. Rodríguez has achieved recognition for her literary works, particularly in the genres of children’s stories, youth stories, novels, and poetry. She has won two national contests for children’s and youth stories, organized by Círculo de Lectores and Pablo Palacio, respectively. Her writing has been featured in various national and international magazines and anthologies. Her novels include Putas de Cristal (2010) and Clepsidra (2020)
Continue reading “Ruth Patricia Rodríguez”Month: December 2020
Tamara Cadena (pen name Judesty)
Tamara Cadena, pen name Judesty (Quito, 1967) is an Ecuadorian writer. She has received several national and international awards and recognitions. In 2009, Cadena’s first novel El acuerdo (2008) won first prize in the online literary contest of El Corte Inglés and BookAndYou.com. Cadena’s third and latest novel El tiempo roto (2017) was well-received by critics. She has lived in Spain since she was thirteen. Cadena publishes her books under the pseudonym Judesty.
Continue reading “Tamara Cadena (pen name Judesty)”Edwin Alcarás
Edwin Marcelo Alcarás Panchi (Quito, 1981) is an Ecuadorian professor, cultural journalist and fiction writer. He is the author of the book of short stories La tierra prometida (2012), which in 2010 won third place in the First Literary Prize of the Provincial Council of Pichincha. In 2011, he decided to quit writing for newspapers, and started an academic career. He has completed three Master’s Degree programs. 1. Hispanic Philology (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, UNED, Madrid, 2013); 2. Latin American Literature (PUCE, 2016), and Philosophy and Social Thought (FLACSO, 2019). He is currently a professor of Spanish as a foreign language at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE), and as a visiting assistant professor he has taught Spanish as a Second Language, Latin American Literature, and Creative Writing at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.
Continue reading “Edwin Alcarás”Pablo Gómez Morán
Pablo Alberto Gómez Morán (Vinces, 1963) is an Ecuadorian writer known for his debut and only published book, “Las guerras de los hijos del sol: Leyendas de los antiguos pueblos andinos y australes” (2018). The book is a captivating retelling of Andean myths, reflecting Gómez Morán’s passion for the ancient cultures of the region. With his imaginative storytelling, he aims to elevate South American mythologies alongside universal mythologies and epic fantasy literature, offering readers a glimpse into the fascinating world of ancient Andean civilizations.
Continue reading “Pablo Gómez Morán”Rafael Pino Roca
Rafael Pino Roca (Guayaquil, October 24, 1878 – Guayaquil, 1963) was an Ecuadorian poet, playwright, and diplomat. Educated in Germany, he became fluent in multiple languages and developed a deep admiration for European culture. Pino Roca held key government roles, including Minister of War, Navy, and Aviation, where he helped establish Ecuador’s first aviation school. His literary works, notably the epic poem Canto a la Raza, gained wide acclaim. He also served as Ecuador’s Consul in Europe and was known for his controversial pro-German stance during the prelude to World War II.
Continue reading “Rafael Pino Roca”Juan Benigno Vela
Juan Benigno Vela Hervas (Ambato, July 9, 1843 – Ambato, February 24, 1920) was an Ecuadorian politician, lawyer, journalist, educator, writer and poet. He earned his law degree from the Central University of Ecuador. Since the age of 33 he was completely blind. He founded the newspapers El Combate, La Idea, La Candela, El Argos and El Pelayo. He was an opponent of the conservative governments of Presidents Gabriel García Moreno and General Ignacio de Veintemilla. For his beliefs he was several times persecuted, imprisoned or exiled. From 1912-1919 he was a senator during the governments of Presidents Leónidas Plaza (1901-1905, 1912-1916) and Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno (1916-1920). He is remembered as a consistent advocate for human rights and freedom in Ecuador.
Continue reading “Juan Benigno Vela”Alejandro Moreano
Alejandro Moreano (Quito, 1945) is an Ecuadorian writer, essayist, university professor, novelist, literary critic, and political scientist. On four occasions he was the director of the school of sociology at the Central University of Ecuador, and has been a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, and is currently a visiting professor at the Simon Bolivar Andean University (Ecuador). His latest novel El crímen del tarot (2020), which Moreano has described as “a novel within a novel,” has to do with politics, theater, love and eroticism.
Continue reading “Alejandro Moreano”Nelson Estupiñán Bass
Nelson Estupiñán Bass (Sua, Esmeraldas, September 19, 1912 — Pennsylvania, United States, March 3, 2002) was an Afro-Ecuadorian novelist, short story writer, poet, essayist, journalist and diplomat. He served as the president of the Esmeraldas chapter of the House of Ecuadorian Culture. His first novel Cuando los guayacanes florecían (1954; translated into English as When the Guayacans Were in Bloom, 1987) is widely read in Ecuador and Latin America, and has been translated into English, German, French and Russian. In 1993 Bass received Ecuador’s highest literary honor, the Eugenio Espejo Award. In 1998, Estupiñán Bass was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. While giving a series of lectures in 2002 at Penn State University Bass became ill with pneumonia and succumbed to the deadly illness at the Hershey Medical Center on March 3, 2002
Continue reading “Nelson Estupiñán Bass”Luis A. Martinez
Luis Alfredo Martínez Holguín (Ambato, June 23, 1869 – Ambato, November 26, 1909) was an Ecuadorian writer, painter, politician, and agriculturist. His novel A la Costa (1904) is considered a masterpiece of Ecuadorian literature and one of the earliest works of realism in the country. In addition to his literary achievements, Martínez was a skilled painter, with several of his best works housed internationally, including in the United States Library of Congress and the Vatican Museum. Politically, he opposed the government of Eloy Alfaro and was involved in the resistance against liberal guerillas in the 1890s.
Continue reading “Luis A. Martinez”Jaime Marchán
Jaime Marchán Romero (Quito, March 15, 1947) is an Ecuadorian writer, diplomat, and academic. He holds degrees in Political and Social Sciences and in Jurisprudence from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE). As a member of the post-boom generation of Latin American writers, his literary works are known for their stylistic purity and complex character psychology. Marchán has published several notable works, including La otra vestidura (1991) and Volcán de niebla (2012), which won the Joaquín Gallegos Lara National Fiction Prize in 2013. In addition to his literary career, he has held significant diplomatic roles, representing Ecuador in multiple countries and serving as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and ambassador. He is also a full member of the Academia Ecuatoriana de la Lengua, occupying seat “Ñ” since 2013.
Continue reading “Jaime Marchán”Patricio Vallejo Aristizábal
Patricio Vallejo Aristizábal (Quito, 1964) is an Ecuadorian actor, director, dramaturg, playwright, and professor. In 2013, his play Caminando sobre arenas movedizas (2012) won the Joaquín Gallegos Lara Prize. He has written books on theater, such as Teatro y vida cotidiana (2003), El teatro político y la figura del Inca (2003), and La Niebla Y La Montaña: Tratado Sobre El Teatro Ecuatoriano Desde Sus Orígenes (2011). In 2001, the House of Ecuadorian Culture bestowed on Vallejo the “National Theatrical Merit Award.”
Continue reading “Patricio Vallejo Aristizábal”Esteban Mayorga
Esteban Mayorga (Quito, 1977) is an Ecuadorian writer. He received his PhD in Hispanic Studies from Boston College. He is on the faculty of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at Niagara University, New York, and Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador. His areas of research include the Latin American novel, travel writing, contemporary transatlantic fiction, and comparative literature. Mayorga has written a variety of fiction works, including the novella Vita Frunis (2010, winner of the Pablo Palacio Prize), and the novels Moscow, Idaho (2015), Cuarenta (2018), and Faribole (2018). He also wrote the short story books Un cuento violento (2007, winner of the Joaquín Gallegos Lara Prize) and Musculosamente (2012). Every other year he teaches a course on Latin American travel literature and takes students to the Galápagos Islands and the jungle of Ecuador.
Continue reading “Esteban Mayorga”Natalia García Freire
Natalia García Freire (Cuenca, 1991) is an Ecuadorian journalist and writer. As a freelance writer her articles have been published in Univisión, El Hoy, Plan V Magazine, El Mercurio, CityLab Latino and BG Magazine. In 2019, Jorge Carrion of the New York Times included García’s debut novel “Nuestra piel muerta” in his article of the best Spanish-language books of the year. García currently lives in Madrid, Spain.
Continue reading “Natalia García Freire”Jaime Galarza Zavala
Jaime Alejandro Galarza Zavala (Cuenca, July 28, 1930 – Quito, July 20, 2023) was an Ecuadorian writer, poet, journalist and polítician. He published over 20 books, including books of poetry and non-fiction books, among which are: El yugo feudal (1962), Piratas del golfo (1973), Los Campesinos de Loja y Zamora (1973), El festín del petróleo (1974), Quienes mataron a Roldós (1982), Petróleo de nuestra muerte (1983). He served as the national vice president of the House of Ecuadorian Culture from 2008-2012. In 2007 President Rafael Correa awarded Galarza the Eugenio Espejo National Culture Prize. Among his friends were Julio Cortazar and Ernesto Che Guevara.
Continue reading “Jaime Galarza Zavala”Alfonso Rumazo González
Alfonso Rumazo González (Latacunga, Ecuador, 1903 — Caracas, Venezuela, 2002) was an Ecuadorian writer, historian, essayist and literary critic. He authored over 30 books in various fields (poetry, fiction, biography, literary criticism). Among his notable works is the biography Manuela saenz, la libertadora del libertador (Quito, 1984), about Doña Manuela Sáenz de Vergara y Aizpuru (1797-1856) who was an Ecuadorian revolutionary heroine of South America who had an intimate relationship with Simon Bolivar around 1822–1830. Rumazo González was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1999.
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