Alfonso Moreno Mora

Alfonso Moreno Mora

Alfonso Moreno Mora (Cuenca, April 21, 1890 – Cuenca, April 1, 1940) was a modernist poet. He co-founded the magazine Páginas Literarias with his cousin Miguel Moreno Serrano in 1918, becoming its editor in chief. He published poems in this magazine under the pseudonyms Enrique de Rafael and Raedel. He also promoted the work of modernist poets such as Argentina’s Leopoldo Lugones and Nicaragua’s Rubén Darío. Some of the magazines that published Moreno Mora’s poems include Austral, Azul, Proteo, and América Latina. He also contributed to the daily newspapers Diario del Sur, La Nación, and El Mercurio. He was a member of Ecuador’s so-called Decapitated Generation and authored works such as “Visión lírica,” “Epístola a Luis Felipe de la Rosa,” and “Elegías.” On April 1, 1940, shortly before his 50th birthday, Alfonso Moreno Mora passed away in his hometown. Eleven years later, his brother and fellow poet Manuel Moreno Mora published “Alfonso Moreno Mora. Poesía,” a compilation of his literary work.

The Lira Festival, a Hispano-American Poetry Competition in Cuenca, Ecuador

The Lira Festival, founded in 1919 by Ecuadorian poet Remigio Crespo Toral and Alfonso Moreno Mora, drew poets and poetry lovers to a country gathering held annually on the last Saturday in May. The poets would discuss their works and award a prize for the best poem. The winner would be given the temporary title of “vate” (bard, poet) and a laurel crown. In May 1919, the first festival was held at Remigio Crespo Toral’s Buen Vecino country estate. The Lira Festival was held annually in Cuenca between 1919 and 1950, during which poets were honored for their works. The Festival was revived in 2007 by Banco del Austro Cultural Foundation and is held in Cuenca every two years in November. The festival consists of four days of meetings with poets from Ecuador and other Latin American nations, with prizes of $30,000 and $5,000 awarded to two authors whose poems have been submitted to the competition.

Teaching career

Alfonso Moreno Mora was a teacher at the high school Colegio Benigno Malo and assistant secretary of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Cuenca.

Education

  • Primary school: Escuela de los Hermanos Cristiano
  • High School: Colegio Benigno Malo
  • University: Universidad de Cuenca, bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Pharmacy.

Personal life

He was married to Lola Heredia Crespo with whom he had 7 children.

Works

  • Jardines de invierno
  • Epístola a Luis Felipe de la Rosa
  • Autobiografía
  • Jardines de Invierno
  • Visión Lírica
  • Elegías

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