20th Century Writers - Ecuadorian Literature

Agustin Cueva

Agustin Cueva Davila (Ibarra, September 23, 1937 – Quito, May 1, 1992) was an Ecuadorian writer, literary critic, and marxist sociologist. He was awarded the Eugenio Espejo Prize in Science in 1991, by the President of Ecuador. Some of his works have been translated into other languages, such as English, Japanese and Korean.

Fernando Chaves

Fernando Chaves Reyes (Otavalo, February 13, 1902 – Quito, 1999) was an Ecuadorian novelist, essayist, journalist, diplomat and politician. He wrote the short novel, “La Embrujada” (1923) and the novel “Plata y bronze” (1927), which laid the groundwork for the Ecuadorian Indigenist novel. Chaves’ novel influenced other future Ecuadorian indigenista novelists, including Jorge Icaza, whose novel “Huasipungo” (1934) is considered Ecuador’s most important indigenista novel. He served as Ecuador’s ambassador to El Salvador, Mexico and Nicaragua.

Gabriel Cevallos García

Gabriel Cevallos García (Cuenca, Ecuador, January 6, 1913 – Tampa, Florida, March 16, 2004) was an Ecuadorian writer, historian, professor, and philosopher. He was the rector of the University of Cuenca from 1964 to 1968 and founder, professor, and dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the university. He taught for some years at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, where he settled in 1969 to work as a teacher. He was a member of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language and the National Academy of History. He was awarded the Eugenio Espejo Award in 1988 by the President of Ecuador.

Víctor Manuel Albornoz

Víctor Manuel Albornoz Cabanilla (Lima, March 23, 1896 – Cuenca, October 26, 1975) was an Ecuadorian writer, poet, biographer, and historian.

José Martínez Queirolo

José Miguel Martínez Queirolo (Guayaquil, March 22, 1931 – Guayaquil, October 8, 2008) was an Ecuadorian playwright and writer. He was awarded the national theater award on four occasions for his plays, La casa del qué dirán (1962), Los unos vs. Los otros (1968), La dama meona (1976) and La conquista no ha terminado todavía (1983). He was the 2001 recipient of the Eugenio Espejo Award in Literature, awarded to him by Ecuador’s president.

Simón Corral

Simón Corral (Quito, January 5, 1946) is an Ecuadorian poet and dramatist. He studied sociology at the Central University of Ecuador, and was the president of the Federation of University Students of Ecuador. He was later a professor at the Central University of Ecuador.

Fernando Tinajero

Fernando Tinajero Villamar (Quito, January 5, 1940) is an Ecuadorian novelist, essayist, and university professor. In the 1960s he was one of the most active members of Tzantzismo a cultural vanguard movement which had roots in the Cuban revolution. In 1971 he earned a PhD in philosophy from Charles University (Univerzita Karlova) in Prague. He is best known for his essay writing and his novel El desencuentro (1976). He was the 2015 recipient of the Eugenio Espejo Prize in literature awarded by the Ecuadorian president.

Hugo Salazar Tamariz

Hugo Salazar Tamariz (Cuenca, September 2, 1923 – Guayaquil, January 31, 1999) was a poet, novelist, playwright and actor. After traveling extensively throughout America, Europe, Asia and Africa, he moved to Guayaquil in 1940 where he lived most of his life and taught literature and drama at the university. He wrote several novels and books of short stories. In 1968 he published 3 plays in one volume entitled “Teatro,” which included “La falsa muerte de un ciclista,” “Toque de queda,” and “Por un plato de arroz.” In 2008, a complete collection of his poems was published posthumously under the eponymous title “Hugo Salazar Tamariz: poesía completa.“

Alfonso Reece Dousdebés

Alfonso Reece Dousdebés (Cotocollao, 1955) is an Ecuadorian journalist, TV reporter, and novelist. He studied law and sociology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. He worked as a reporter since 1980 for the television channels Ecuavisa and Teleamazonas. In 1990 he decided to become a print journalist and has since worked for many leading journals of Ecuador, among which are 15 Días, Vistazo, SoHo, Mango and Mundo Diners. An article in the latter magazine earned him the Jorge Mantilla Ortega Prize from El Comercio in 1998. He is currently a columnist for the newspaper El Universo. His novels include “El Numerario” (1996), “Morga” (2007), and “Todas las aves” (2013). Critic Antonio Sacoto has acclaimed “Todas las aves” as the best-written Ecuadorian novel of the 21st century.

Manuel Belisario Moreno

Manuel Belisario Moreno (Loja, 18?? – 1917) was an Ecuadorian writer and priest. Belisario Moreno is best known as the author of the novel Naya o La Chapetona (1900). He is the father of the sculptor Alfredo Palacio Moreno (1912-1998) and the grandfather of the former Ecuadorian President Alfredo Palacio González (in office 2005-2007).

Blanca Martínez Mera

Blanca Martínez Mera de Tinajero (Ambato, October 5, 1897 – Ambato, June 20, 1976) was an Ecuadorian writer and teacher. With the publication of her book En la paz del campo in 1940, she became the first woman to publish a novel in Ecuador. Her parents were the writer Luis A. Martínez (1869–1909) and Rosario Mera Iturralde, the daughter of the writer Juan León Mera (1832–1894). Later in life she became the director of the Casa de Montalvo, a museum and cultural center in Ambato, whose eponymous magazine she edited for many years. A school in her hometown bears her name in honor of her memory.

Vicente Cabrera Funes

Vicente Cabrera Funes (March 28, 1944 – July 6, 2014) was an Ecuadorian novelist, essayist and Spanish professor at at the University of Minnesota Morris. He received his B.A. from the Pontifical Catholic University (Quito, Ecuador), and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts. He wrote several novels and short story collections, all of which were set principally in Ecuador. Critiquing Cabrera’s novel “Los malditos amantes de Carolina” (2005), George R. McMurray, Professor Emeritus Colorado State University, wrote that it “represents an ingenious example of metafiction, that is, a novel that dramatizes its own creative process.” Funes also wrote several notable essays, including “La nueva ficción hispanoamericana: a través de M.A. Asturias y G. García Márquez” (1972) and “Tres poetas a la luz de la metáfora: Salinas, Aleixandre y Guillén” (1975).

Enrique Avellán Ferrés

Enrique Avellán Ferrés (Guayaquil, December 11, 1904 – Quito, 1984) was a distinguished Ecuadorian novelist, playwright, and legal scholar, celebrated for his contributions to both the literary and legal fields. Author of the compelling novel “La enorme pasión,” the critically acclaimed three-act play “Como los árboles” (1927), and the innovative musical fantasy “La rebelión del museo” (1969), Avellán Ferrés carved out a unique space in Ecuadorian culture. After earning a degree in social and political sciences from the University of Guayaquil, he went on to achieve notable success, including winning literary prizes and playing a pivotal role in copyright law advocacy, further establishing his legacy as a multifaceted intellectual force in Ecuador.

César E. Arroyo

César E. Arroyo (Quito, 1887 – Cádiz, 1937) was an Ecuadorian poet, novelist, journalist, playwright and diplomat. He was Ecuador’s Consul in Vigo from 1912 to 1916, and Ecuador’s Consul in Madrid from 1917 to 1919. He later served as Consul in Santander and Cadiz. He co-founded the Madrid-based magazine Cervantes (1913-1921) with the Spanish poet Francisco Villaespesa.

Eugenia Viteri

Blanca Eugenia Viteri Segura (Guayaquil, July 4, 1928 – Quito, September 21, 2023) is an Ecuadorian novelist, short story writer, anthologist, women’s rights activist, and teacher. Viteri has published over a dozen books including novels, short story collections, and anthologies. Her work has been translated into English, Russian, and Bulgarian. She has been a member of the House of Ecuadorian Culture since 1962. She founded the Manuela Sáenz Cultural Foundation in 1983. Through her work with the foundation, Viteri became one of the most important defenders of women’s rights in Ecuador. In 2008, President Rafael Correa honored her with the Rosa Campuzano National Prize. She was among the first to receive the newly created award, which recognizes the work of noteworthy Ecuadorian women.