20th Century Writers - Ecuadorian Literature

Raúl Pérez Torres

Raúl Pérez Torres (Quito, May 11, 1941) is an Ecuadorian writer and cultural promoter. His short story collection En la noche y en la niebla won the Casa de las Américas Prize (Havana, Cuba) in 1980, one of Latin America’s oldest and most prestigious literary awards. In 1995 Pérez’ short story Sólo cenizas hallarás won the Juan Rulfo Prize (France) and the Julio Cortazar Prize. From 2000-2019, Pérez served as the president of the Ecuadorian House of Culture in Quito, and from 2017-2019 served as Ecuador’s Minister of Culture.

Adelaida Velasco Galdós

Adelaida Velasco Galdós (Guayaquil, 1894 – December 26, 1967) was an Ecuadorian writer, feminist, and humanist. She is recognized her dedication to Catholic Christian feminism. In 1932, Velasco co-founded the Legion of Popular Education alongside writer Rosa Borja de Icaza. This organization aimed to promote education and empower women in Ecuador. Additionally, in 1936, she represented Ecuador in the Inter-American Commission of the “Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom” in Washington D.C. Starting in 1939, Velasco initiated a campaign to nominate Gabriela Mistral, a renowned Chilean poet, for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her efforts proved successful when Mistral became the first Latin American author to receive the prestigious award in 1945. Mistral later acknowledged in various interviews that it was Adelaida Velasco who had originally proposed her nomination for the Nobel Prize.

Raúl Andrade Moscoso

Raúl Andrade Moscoso (Quito, October 4, 1905 – Quito, September 10, 1983) was an Ecuadorian journalist and dramatist. As a journalist, Andrade travelered throughout Mexico and Colombia, where he worked for the newspaper El Tiempo (Bogota, Colombia), and published his book “La internacional negra en Colombia,” a collection of articles on the crisis in Colombia. He was also the editor of El Comercio from 1954-1982. As a dramatist, Andrade published “Suburbio,” a romantic evocation on the suburbs of Quito. In 1983 the president of Ecuador conferred on Andrade the Eugenio Espejo Prize in Culture.

Hernán Rodríguez Castelo

Hernán Rodríguez Castelo (Quito, June 1, 1933 – February 20, 2017) was a writer, historian of literature, art critic, essayist, and linguist. He wrote more than 120 books, and also wrote the foreword of books by other authors. He was a member of the Royal Spanish Academies of History and Language, and of the Ecuadorian Academies of History and Language.

Gustavo Vásconez Hurtado

Gustavo Vásconez Hurtado (Quito, April 3, 1911 – Quito, 1988) was an Ecuadorian novelist, biographer and diplomat. He returned to Ecuador in 1931 after finishing his education in England, France, and Switzerland. He published his first novel, “Vivien Christie,” in 1934, and his second, “Camino de las Landas,” in 1940. His first biography, “Pluma de Acero o La Vida Novelesca de Juan Montalvo,” was published in 1944. He was a member of the Bolivarian Society of Colombia, the Colombian Poetic Center, the Nariñense Academy of History, the Institute of Hispanic Culture, the Literary Legal Academy of Quito, and the House of Ecuadorian Culture. He was also the president of the Ecuadorian Writers Society.

Pedro Saad Herrería

Pedro Saad Herrería (Guayaquil, September 16, 1940 – Quito, June 6, 2014), was an Ecuadorian writer, filmmaker, politician, diplomat, historian and journalist. He was the son of Ecuador’s communist party leader, Pedro Saad Niyaim. He authored several books, such as “Historias del pueblo de Guayaquil” (2010), “Ecuador un país en imágenes/Ecuador a Country in Images” (2002, in Spanish/English bilingual edition), and “La caída de Abdalá” (1997), among others. In April 2014, Saad was honored by the Voltaire Masonic Lodge at the House of Ecuadorian Culture in Quito with the Cultural Merit Medal for his extensive and prolific intellectual career.

Eugenio Moreno Heredia

Eugenio Moreno Heredia (Cuenca, 1926—1997) was a poet, fiction writer, nonfiction writer, literary critic, university professor, magistrate judge and member of the communist party. He belonged to the literary groups “La Madrugada,” “Elan,” and “Tzánticos.” He was the son of the poet Alfonso Moreno Mora. His poems have been translated into several languages and published in anthologies.

Fanny Caicedo

Emma Fanny Caicedo Mier, also known as Fanny Caicedo de Cobo (Yaguachi, 1932 – circa 2001), was an Ecuadorian poet and teaching professor. Her books include Perlas Azules and Cantares del Silencio. She was a councilor of the Tungurahua Province. She wrote for several newspapers in the city of Ambato, including La Crónica, Avance, El Heraldo and others.

Gustavo Egüez Villacreses

Gustavo Egüez Villacreses (Ambato, March 26, 1923 – Guayaquil, May 29, 1981) was a poet and writer. Egüez received several awards for his poetry: In 1952 he won First Prize of the newspaper Diario La Nación (Guayaquil) for his poem “Romancero de Navidad′′ and he was bestowed the Gilded Orchid in the floral games of the magazine Radial Vida Porteña.

Antonio Preciado

Antonio Preciado Bedoya is an Afro-Ecuadorian poet, university professor and diplomat. He was born in Esmeraldas on May 21, 1941. He was director of the Municipal Center of Culture of the city of Esmeraldas and President of the Esmeraldas chapter of the House of Ecuadorian Culture. For 23 years he was director of the Department of Culture of the Central Bank of Ecuador and rector of the University of Esmeraldas. He has been dubbed the “Poet of the Diaspora.” Together with Nelson Estupiñán Bass, Preciado is considered one of the greatest exponents of Esmeralda poetry. Siete veces la vida (1967) is widely regarded as his most famous collection of poems. Some of his work has been translated into English, French and Romanian.

Fernando Artieda

Fernando Artieda Miranda (Guayaquil, June 14, 1945 – April 15, 2010) was an Ecuadorian writer, poet and journalist. For 40 years he worked as a journalist for newspapers and magazines such as La Razón, Expreso, Meridiano and Hoy, as well as television media such as Ecuavisa and RTS. During the presidency of Abdalá Bucaram he was the secretary of communications.

Fernando Nieto Cadena

Fernando Nieto Cadena (Quito, March 29, 1947 – Villahermosa, Mexico, March of 2017) was an Ecuadorian poet. In the 1970s he founded the literary group Sicoseo, which consisted of writers such as Fernando Artieda, Jorge Velasco Mackenzie, Jorge Martillo and Raúl Vallejo. In 1978 he moved to Mexico, returning to Ecuador on only two occasions. In 1989 he was awarded the Jorge Carrera Andrade Prize for his poetry book “Los des(en)tierros del caminante.”

Cristóbal Zapata

Cristóbal Zapata is an Ecuadorian poet, editor, literary critic, and art curator. He was born in Cuenca in 1968. He is currently the executive director of the Municipal Biennial Foundation of Cuenca. He has published the poetry books Corona de cuerpos (1992), Te perderá la carne (1999), Baja noche (2000), No hay naves para Lesbos (2004), Jardín de arena (2009), La miel de la higuera (2012) and El habla del cuerpo (2015); and the book of short stories El pan y la carne (2007), which won the prestigious Joaquín Gallegos Lara National Literature Prize.

Catalina Sojos

Catalina Sojos Mata (Cuenca, 1951) is a poet, writer, columnist, author of children’s literature, and a translator. In 1989, at the age of 37, she published her first poetry book: Hojas de poesía. She has been awarded the Gabriela Mistral National Poetry Prize, 1989, and the Jorge Carrera Andrade Prize, 1992. She is currently the director of the Manuel A. Landívar Museum in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Francisco Granizo Ribadeneira

Francisco Granizo Ribadeneira (Quito, November 8, 1925 – January 21, 2009) was an Ecuadorian poet, professor and diplomat. He was a professor at Ecuador’s Central University and the director of the House of Ecuadorian Culture’s radio station. He published several poetry books, including “Por el breve polvo” (1948), “La piedra” (1958), “Nada más el verbo” (1969), “Muerte y caza de la madre” (1978), “Sonetos del amor total” (1990) and “El sonido de tus pasos” (2005). He also wrote a verse drama, “Fedro” (2005). In 2001, he published his only novel, “La piscina,” for which he received the Joaquín Gallegos Lara Prize for best novel of the year. Through the protagonists Fernando and Lilí, the book examines loneliness and the impossibility of finding love, two frequent themes in Granizo’s works.