20th Century Writers - Ecuadorian Literature

Luz Argentina Chiriboga

Luz Argentina Chiriboga Guerrero is an Afro-Ecuadorian poet, novelist and short story writer. She was born in Esmeraldas on April 1, 1940. Her works are concerned with Afro-Hispanic cultural identity and themes about women’s challenges. She is a member of the House of Ecuadorian Culture. Several of her novels have been translated into English, Italian and French.

Violeta Luna

Morayma Violeta Luna Carrera is an Ecuadorian poet, essayist, journalist, literary critic, professor. She was born on February 24, 1943 in Guayaquil. She is a member of various organizations, including the Press Circle of Ecuador, the Society of Ecuadorian Writers, and the House of Ecuadorian Culture.

Carlos Béjar Portilla

Carlos Béjar Portilla is a science fiction writer and poet. He was born in Ambato on February 17, 1938. He is considered an important storyteller of the 1970’s Ecuador. In 1982 he was declared a founding member of the “Society of Writers of Ecuador.”

Jorge Enrique Adoum

Jorge Enrique Adoum, or Jorgenrique Adoum (Ambato, June 29, 1926 – Quito, July 3, 2009) was an Ecuadorian poet, novelist and playwright. Adoum is best known for his poetry collections and his celebrated novel Entre Marx y una mujer desnuda (1976). He is regarded as one of Ecuador’s most important writers and intellectuals of the 20th century. Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda hailed Adoum as “the best Latin American poet of his generation.” An English translation of Adoum’s poetry was published by Katherine M. Hedeen and Víctor Rodríguez Núñez under the title “prepoems in postspanish and other poems” (Action Books, 2021). This collection includes three of Adoum’s most groundbreaking books: “Currículum mortis” [Curriculum Mortis] (1973, 1979), “prepoemas en postespañol” [prepoems in postspanish] (1973, 1979), and “El amor desenterrado” [Love Disinterred] (1993). In 1989 the President of Ecuador conferred on Adoum Ecuador’s highest literary prize, the Eugenio Espejo Award, for his lifetime of literary work.

Homero Viteri Lafronte

Homero Viteri Lafronte (Ambato, January 24, 1892 — Santiago, Chile, November 10, 1976) was an Ecuadorian writer and historian whose published works include historical monographs and conference papers. He earned a jurisprudence doctorate from the Central University of Ecuador. In 1949 he was the head of the Ecuadorian delegation to the U.N. in Lake Success, NY. He was several times President of the Legal-Literary Society of Quito and belonged to several national and international institutions, and also served as the deputy director of Ecuador’s National Academy of History.

Marco Antonio La Mota

Marco Antonio La Mota was an Ecuadorian journalist, poet and short story writer. He was a staff writer for the newspaper El Telegrafo. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The date of his birth is unknown; it is known he died in 1946. In 1941 La Mota published a book of short stories titled Las huellas de una raza with a foreword by Joaquín Gallegos Lara (1909-1947).

Pablo Palacio

Pablo Palacio was an Ecuadorian avant-garde writer. He was born in Loja on January 25, 1906 and died in Quito on January 7, 1947. In 1925 he earned a degree in jurisprudence from the Central University of Ecuador. He served as professor of philosophy and literature at the same University, as an Undersecretary of the Ministry of education (when it was led by Benjamín Carrión), and as Undersecretary of the National Constituent Assembly in 1938. He is best known for his novels Débora (1927), Vida del ahorcado (1932) and his short story collection Un hombre muerto a puntapiés (1927). In 1939, he began to suffer from mental disorders and soon after was declared mad. He spent the last seven years of his life in a psychiatric clinic accompanied and cared for by his faithful wife, who volunteered as a nurse in the same clinic to be able to cover the costs of treatment.

Benjamín Carrión

Benjamín Carrión Mora (Loja, April 20, 1897 – Quito, March 8, 1979) was one of the great Latin American intellectuals of the 20th century. He was a lawyer, writer, novelist, poet, essayist, biographer, literary critic, legislator, diplomat, educator and cultural promoter. His most notable literary work is Atahualpa (1934), a biography written in story form about the last Inca emperor, which has been translated into English and French. In 1944 Carrión founded the House of Ecuadorian Culture, which preserves and promotes many aspects of Ecuador’s culture, including music, dance, art, literature, theater and film. Considered Carrión’s greatest achievement and legacy, this organization maintains several museums, libraries and performance venues throughout Ecuador, as well as a printing press which has been instrumental in publishing many noteworthy Ecuadorian authors.

Alicia Yánez Cossío

Alicia Yánez Cossío (Quito, September 10, 1928) is an Ecuadorian novelist, poet, short story writer, and journalist. She is considered one of the 2oth Century’s most important literary figures of Ecuador and Latin America. Since 1991 she has been a member of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language. In 1996, with her novel El cristo feo (1995), Yánez became the first Ecuadorian to win the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize (Guadalajara, Mexico), one of the most prestigious awards for female authors in the Spanish speaking world. In 2008 she received Ecuador’s highest literary award, the Eugenio Espejo Award, for her lifetime of work.

Juan Manuel Rodríguez López

Juan Manuel Rodríguez López is a novelist, short story writer, literary critic, columnist and professor. Born in Bilbao, Spain in 1945, Rodríguez is a naturalized Ecuadorian citizen and has lived in Quito most of his adult life. Rodríguez’ award-winning fiction includes the novels El poder de los vencidos (2003), El pulso de la nada (1996), and El Espantapájaros (1990 & 1995). In 1990, his short story collection Fricciones won the prestigious Aurelio Espinosa Pólit Prize.

Ecuadorian poet and novelist Rafael Díaz Ycaza reading from his poetry and prose

Ecuadorian poet and novelist Rafael Díaz Ycaza reading from his poetry and prose. Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape (Library of Congress, Control Number 93842308), Recorded Mar. 27, 1977, in the Library of Congress Recording Laboratory, Studio B, Washington, D.C. Recorded for the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape. Production level cataloging. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.

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Rafael Díaz Ycaza

Rafael Díaz Ycaza was a poet, novelist, short story writer and columnist. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador on October 28, 1925 and died in the same city on August 28, 2013. In 2011, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa awarded Díaz with the the nation’s highest literary distinction, the Eugenio Espejo National Prize, for his lifetime of literary work.

“His book [Zona prohibida] was like a bible for the youth of my generation, especially for its social poetry.”
Sonia Manzano (Poet) – quoted in “Rafael Díaz Ycaza, el hombre que dedica su vida a las letras,” El UNIVERSO, Sept 2, 2011.

Iván Carvajal

Iván Carvajal Aguirre is a poet, writer and professor. He was born in 1948 in San Gabriel, Ecuador. In 1984 his work entitled Parajes earned the Aurelio Espinosa Pólit Prize. In 2013 he won the Premio a las Libertades Juan Montalvo. He was part of the Tzantzismo literary movement of the 1960s Ecuador. He lives in Quito and is a Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador.