Poets - Ecuadorian Literature

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.

María Paulina Briones

Mara Paulina Briones Layana (Guayaquil, 1974) is an Ecuadorian writer, editor, and professor. She currently teaches Journalism and Literature, as well as Journalistic Projects, at Casa Grande University and the University of the Arts (both in Guayaquil). She also runs the publishing company Cadaver Exquisito, which she founded in 2012, and has been the director of La Casa Morada, a cultural initiatives company that promotes reading, since 2009. She is featured in the bilingual poetry collection “Lengua me has vencido” (2017). Some of her stories have appeared in the Latin American Culture magazine Guaraguao, as well as the virtual magazines El Otro Lunes and Matavilela from Ecuador.

Jorge Tigrero Vaca

Jorge William Tigrero Vaca (Guayaquil, 1986) is an Ecuadorian poet, writer, journalist and university professor. He has published books of poetry, short stories and essays on pedagogy. He is a member of the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), an international governmental body for cooperation between Latin American countries in the field of education, science, technology and culture. He is also a member of the Global Network of Writers in Spanish (REMES). Tigrero works as a professor at the Casa Grande University, ECOTEC University and University of the Arts.

Carlos H. Endara

Carlos Honorato Endara Garzon, pseudonym Delittante (Quito, December 19, 1896 – Quito, August 2, 1938) was an Ecuadorian poet, essayist, journalist and literary critic. He founded and directed the magazines Ecos Juveniles, Atenea, Bolas y Boladas, and Vida intelectual. He was also a contributor of the magazines Letras and Renacimientos. He worked as a journalist for El Dia before founding Figaro in 1925, an elegantly presented magazine illustrated with Lattore’s satirical caricatures. In 1924, he published “La alcoba de los éxtasis,” a collection of chronicles and short stories.

Miguel Moreno Serrano

Miguel Moreno Serrano (Cuenca, July 27, 1886 – Cuenca, January 19, 1943) was an Ecuadorian poet and literary critic. He had a PhD in biology as well as a medical degree in surgery, but he never practiced. He worked as the director of the Bank of Azuay, secretary of the University of Cuenca, and treasurer of Public Assistance of Azuay. He was the son of the poet Miguel Moreno Ordóñez.

J. O. Llaguno

Jerónimo Orión Llaguno Márquez, aka J. Orión Llaguno, aka J. O. Llaguno (Puebloviejo, September 30, 1869 – Guayaquil, May 16, 1965) was an Ecuadorian poet and journalist. He was a founding member of the Press Circle of Guayas in 1936, together with 21 other notable figures. He wrote the hymn of El Universo, one of Ecuador’s oldest newspapers (still in circulation). A school in Guayaquil, Escuela Geronimo Orion Llaguno, is named for him. His best known poetry books include, Frondas poéticas (1909) and Resonancias de mis selvas (1953).

George Reyes

George Reyes (Los Ríos, Ecuador, 1960) is an Ecuadorian poet, essayist, editor, theology professor, and pastor. He has been a permanent resident of Mexico for many years. He has a bachelor’s degree in theology, two master’s degrees in theology, and is a PhD candidate in theology. He is the author of two books on Biblical hermeneutics and co-author of two books on theology. He’s also the author of two poetry collections, “El azul de la tarde” (2015) and “Ese otro exilio, esa otra patria” (2016). He is listed in Mexico’s Encyclopedia of Literature.

María Auxiliadora Balladares

María Auxiliadora Balladares (Guayaquil, 1980) is an Ecuadorian writer and university professor. Her short story Jamón serrano won second place in the 10th Pablo Palacio Short Story Biennial. Her first book, a collection of short stories entitled Las vergüenzas (2013) consists of ten stories and was well received by critics. Among the stories which stand out in the book, En el sótano, originally written in 1999, tells the story of two children who discover their father’s homosexual relationship with the man whom he had passed for years as his brother. In 2017 she published the collection of poems Animal, which was inspired by her affinity for animals and her relationship with the wild. It obtained second place at the seventh Lyre Festival of Cuenca. Her collection of poems Guayaquil (2017) won first place in the Pichincha Poetry Prize Competition. The work, published in 2019 by the Pichincha Provincial Council, brings together 22 poems that present the author’s experiences during a trip to Guayaquil.

Augusto Rodríguez

Augusto Rodríguez (Guayaquil, 1979) is an Ecuadorian poet, journalist, editor of El Quirófano Ediciones, university professor in Guayaquil and director of the Ileana Espinel Cedeño International Poetry Festival. He is the author of 20 books of poetry, short stories, novels, interviews and essays in prestigious publishing houses in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Peru and Ecuador. His work has won numerous awards and is featured in various anthologies. He is one of the founders of the cultural group Buseta de Papel. He has participated in several literary events inside and outside of Ecuador. Part of his poetic work has been translated into twelve languages: English, Arabic, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian, Italian, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Serbian and Medumba.

Ana Cecilia Blum

Ana Cecilia Blum (Guayaquil, March 17, 1972) is an Ecuadorian poet, essayist, fiction writer, editor, translator and journalist. She studied political and social sciences at the Vicente Rocafuerte Secular University in Guayaquil. She earned a postgraduate degree in “Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language” from Colorado State University (U.S.). She is the founder and editor-in-chief of the digital magazine Metaforología which publishes poetry, fiction and essays. She currently lives between Ecuador and the United States. Some of her work has been translated into English, French, Italian and Portuguese.

Natalí Romero Torres

Natalí Romero Torres (Manta) is a doctor, clinical sexologist, poet, and writer. She is the author of the poetry collection “El amor en tacones” (2018). Alexis Cuzme, director of the publishing house Tinta Ácida, commented that “El amor en tacones” was written for women. The book’s themes include sensuality, love, heartbreak, disappointment, and emotional support.

Mario Campaña

Mario Campaña Avilés (Guayaquil, 1959) is an Ecuadorian poet, biographer, essayist and anthologist of poetry. He founded and directed the Latin American cultural magazine Guaraguao in Barcelona for 22 years, until 2018. In 2018 he published, “Poesía Reunida 1988-2018,” a compilation of all his published poems up to that time. He has also authored literary biographies on Francisco de Quevedo and Baudelaire. He has lived in Barcelona, Spain since 1992.

Fabián Guerrero Obando

Fabián Guerrero Obando (Quito, 1959) is an Ecuadorian lawyer, poet, writer and university professor. He received a doctorate in jurisprudence from the Central University of Ecuador. He was president of the Ecuadorian Society of Writers (SEDE). He teaches Creative Writing and Textual Linguistics at the Faculty of Social Communication of the Central University of Ecuador. Some of his work has been translated into English, German, French, Greek and Italian.

Piedad Romo-Leroux Girón

Piedad Romo-Leroux Girón (Guayaquil) is an Ecuadorian psychiatrist, university professor, and well-known children’s author with 56 volumes to her credit, including poetry, fiction, essays, and plays. From 1970 to 2008, she was the Chief Doctor of the Children’s Ward at the Lorenzo Ponce Psychiatric Hospital; from 2008 to 2010, she supervised the hospital’s Academic Council; and from 2010 to 2011, she directed the Santa Rosa Women’s Ward.

Jaime Damerval

Jaime Francisco Damerval Martinez (Guayaquil, November 19, 1940) is a lawyer, poet, essayist, journalist, columnist, university professor, political scientist, politician, former minister of the interior (2004) and former presidential candidate of Ecuador (2006). His poetry books include “Racimos” (1975) and “Mazorca” (1981). He also authored two book-length political essays: “Centralismo y regionalismo en el Ecuador” (1979) and “Monopolio político en el Ecuador” (2000), as well as collections of journalistic articles. He was an opinion columnist for the daily newspaper El Universo for over 20 years. In 2014 he became a member of the Guayaquil chapter of the Ecuadorian Academy of History.