Carlos Alfonso Carrión Figueroa (Malacatos, Loja, January 25, 1944) is an Ecuadorian novelist and short story writer. He has won several prestigious literary awards, including the José de la Cuadra Award for his 1982 short story collection “El más hermoso animal nocturno” [The Most Beautiful Nocturnal Animal], the Joaquín Gallegos Lara Award twice, first for his 1995 short story book “El corazón es un animal en celo” [The Heart is an Animal in Heat] and later for his 2005 novel “¿Quién me ayuda a matar a mi mujer?” [Who’ll Help Me Kill My Wife?], which also earned him the “Lira y la Pluma” Award. Additionally, his work has been featured in various anthologies. In 2013, he won the Miguel Riofrío Award for his novel “La mantis religiosa” [The Praying Mantis]. Recently, in 2022, Carrión Figueroa was honored with the Eugenio Espejo National Prize, the highest literary recognition in Ecuador.
Videos
Teaching
In Cariamanga, Carlos Carrión Figueroa acquired a teaching degree. He worked as a teacher near Ecuador’s southern border, in the Almendro neighborhood of the Celica canton. To pay for his studies, he worked various jobs (i.e., ice cream vendor, errand boy, child caretaker). He also served as a substitute teacher at the Bernardo Valdivieso School and, on occasion, the La Inmaculada School. He studied literature at the National University of Loja and released his first short story collection, “Porque me da la gana” [Because I Feel Like It]. He began working as a teacher at the Adolfo Valarezo School. In 1972, he became a professor at the same institution where he received his degree, and a year later, on a scholarship from the Institute of Hispanic Culture, he received a Doctorate in Hispanic Philology from the Complutense University of Madrid. He was a professor at the National University of Loja for 38 years, until his retirement, in the fields of Education, Art, and Communication, Educational Sciences Career, and Social Communication Career. At the same time, he committed himself to writing every morning. His books are the result of his commitment.
Personal
In 1975, Carlos Carrión Figueroa married Flora Delfina Gutiérrez.
Works
Short stories
- Porque me da la gana (1969)
- Ella sigue moviendo las caderas (1979)
- Los potros desnudos (1976)
- El más hermoso animal nocturno (José de la Cuadra award) (1982)
- La sonrisa del asno (1992)
- El corazón es un animal en celo (Joaquín Gallegos Lara award) (1995)
- Doce cuentos de amor y una ballena.
- El amante sonámbulo (2008)
- Habló el rey y dijo muuu (2011)
- Una chica dormida en un caballo (2019)
- El colt 45 de Caín (2019)
- El colibrí que quiso escribir una novela (2019)
- El teniente y su cerdo de confianza (2019)
Novels
- El deseo que lleva tu nombre (1989)
- Una niña adorada (premio Nacional de Novela) (1990)
- Una guerra con nombre de mujer (1995)
- ¿Quién me ayuda a matar a mi mujer? (winner of the 2006 Joaquín Gallegos Lara award, and the Lira y la Pluma award, 2005).
- La utopía de Madrid (2012)
- La mantis religiosa (2014)
- La ciudad que te perdió (2020)
Nonfiction
- Técnicas de la novela actual (Loja, 1990).
- De Loja a Roma pasando por donde Maite (2000)
- Caballo de papel (2002)
His stories can also be found in the following anthologies
- Los mejores cuentos lojanos (Quito, 1990);
- Así en las tierra como en los sueños (Quito, 1991);
- Cuento contigo (Guayaquil, 1993);
- Antología básica del cuento ecuatoriano (Quito, 1998);
- Cuento ecuatoriano de finales del siglo XX (Quito, 1999)
- Cuento ecuatoriano contemporáneo (México, 2001)