Short story writers - Ecuadorian Literature

Gabriela Cárdenas

Gabriela Cárdenas Monge (Quito) is an Ecuadorian writer, poet, graphic designer, and plastic artist. In 2018 she published a book titled “De poemas y relatos,” which combines poetry and prose with pictures of her artwork. In 2019, she won Fourth place in the The Best Christmas Stories contest hosted by the Hispanic Heritage Literature Foundation – Milibrohispano.org, which created a Spanish/English bilingual edition of the book which was published by Snow Fountain Press in Miami. In 2020, her story “La abuela y su guagua de pan” won a special mention in the international category of the contest Cuentale tu cuento a la Nota Latina, and was published in the anthology titled “33 Relatos Hispanos.” That same year, her poem “Distancia” was included in the poetry anthology “Siglemas 575.” Her poem “Terminamos, para siempre” was a finalist of the III Certamen de poesia – Hagamos art con palabras organized by the Art Emporium Gallery of Miami. She is currently working on the manuscript of her first novel.

Francisco Proaño Arandi

Francisco Proaño Arandi (Cuenca, January 20, 1944) is an Ecuadorian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and diplomat. In the 1960’s he was part of the literary group called Tzántzicos. In 1961, when he was 17 years old, he published a poetry book titled “Poesías.” However, since then he has dedicated himself solely to prose. In 1964 he started the magazine Z with Alejandro Moreano, and the magazine La bufanda del sol (1965-1966) with Ulises Estrella and Alejandro Moreano. In 1972, he published his first book of poems, “Historias de disecadores.” In 1984, he published his first novel, “Antiguas caras en el espejo,” which was critically acclaimed and was awarded the José Mejía Lequerica Prize by the Municipality of Quito for best prose work. In 1993, he published a second novel, “Del otro lado de las cosas.” In 2003 his short story book, “Historias del país fingido,” won the Joaquín Gallegos Lara Prize. In 2003, his third novel, “La razón y el presagio” was published. His fourth novel, “Tratado del amor clandestino,” was a finalist of the Rómulo Gallegos International Prize (2009, Caracas, Venezuela) and the José María Arguedas Prize from the Casa de las Américas (2010, Havana, Cuba). In 2009, his fifth novel “El sabor de la condena” also won the Joaquín Gallegos Lara Prize. From 2002 to 2003 he was the director of the House of Ecuadorian Culture’s magazine Letras del Ecuador. Although he was born in Cuenca, he has lived in Quito most of his life since that’s where his family is originally from.

Santos Miranda Rojas

Santos Miranda Rojas (Guayaquil, September 12, 1940) is an Ecuadorian novelist and short story writer. He has lived in the city of Manta in the province of Manabi for many years and mostly identifies as Mantanese or Manabite. He was president of the Manabi chapter of the House of Ecuadorian Culture, president of the Manabi chapter of the Latin American Union of Writers, first president of the cultural group Alfaro Camina, director of the Sunday supplement Séptimo Día of the newspaper El Mercurio of Manta. Among his many accolades are the following: First Prize of the Oswaldo Castro Intriago Biennial Novel Award, presented by the House of Ecuadorian Culture, Manabi; the Intercollegiate Read Book Competition, sponsored by the Municipality of Quito; In 2000, his short story “El Niño Pintor” won silver at an international competition hosted by the government of Argentina, the Buenos Aires Lions Club, the Organization of American States, and the Spanish Embassy. Among his best known works is the novel, “La Casa del Nené” (2009) and the narrative book “Criollismo Mágico” (2014).

Silvia Stornaiolo

Silvia Stornaiolo Witt (Quito, 1980) is an Ecuadorian novelist and short story writer. She is the author of three short story collections and two novels, including: “Tanta Joroba” (2011) and “Tenga” (2012). Her latest book of short stories is “Facilona” (2020). Her father is the renowned painter Luigi Stornaiolo.

Miguel Molina Díaz

Miguel Molina Díaz (Quito, 1992) is a writer, lawyer, columnist, and college professor. He earned a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) from New York University (NYU) in Creative Writing in Spanish. He earned his law degree from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ). In 2017, he published his book of poems, “Postales,” and in 2020, he published a book of short stories, “Cuaderno de la lluvia.” As a columnist, he received an Honorable Mention in the 2017 Journalistic Excellence Award from the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), in the Opinion category. His columns have been published in several magazines in Ecuador, such as La Hora, El Comercio, La República, and Mundo Diners.

Yana Lema

Yana Lema, full name Yana Lucila Lema Otavalo (Peguche, Otavalo canton, Ecuador, 1974) is an Ecuadorian journalist, writer, poet, translator, cultural promoter, and college professor. She writes in Spanish and Quechua. For more than seven years, she worked as a presenter on the RTS Kichwapi newscast and later on Ecuador TV’s Willaykuna newscast. In 2016, she published her story “Chaska” in Quechua and Spanish, and in 2019, her collection of poems “Tamyawan Shamukupani.” Lema has participated in fairs and literary festivals in Quito, La Paz, Havana, Guadalajara, Guayaquil, Medellín, Bogotá, Mexico, and Genoa. In 2021, her poetry book “Tengo hambre de tu boca” won the Jorge Carrera Andrade Prize. She resides in Guayaquil and serves as a professor at the University of the Arts, where she teaches Oral and Latin American Literature.

Fernando Escobar Páez

Fernando Escobar Páez (Quito, 1982) is an Ecuadorian writer, poet and journalist. His first book, “Los ganadores y yo,” was a poetry collection published in 2006. His second book, “Miss O´gginia,” was a book of short stories which won several awards and was published in six countries, including Spain, Argentina and Chile. He has also published the poetry collections, “Escúpeme en la verga” (2013) and “Tu retorno con aliento a biberón, peluche y verga ajena” (2018). His work has been published in over twenty anthologies of poetry and journalistic chronicles, both in Ecuador and abroad. Some of his work has been translated into several languages, including English, German, Portuguese, Russian, and French.

Vladimiro Rivas

Vladimiro Rivas Iturralde (Latacunga, June 5, 1944) is an Ecuadorian novelist, short story writer, biographer, opera critic, essayist, editor, translator, and award-winning university professor. He has been a resident of Mexico since 1973 and also holds Mexican citizenship. Since its establishment in 1974, he has been a professor at the Azcapotzalco Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City. He has produced eight collections of short stories, two novels, and five nonfiction books. Some of his work has been translated to English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Bulgarian. He has also been the editor of anthologies of Ecuadorian writers, such as the acclaimed “Cuento ecuatoriano contemporáneo,” which was released in Mexico in 2001 and promptly translated into English as “Contemporary Ecuadorian Short Stories” in 2002.

Esteban Poblete Oña

Esteban Poblete Oña aka E. Plobete (Quito, 1979) is an Ecuadorian novelist, short story writer, and poet. In 2017 he published his debut novel “El ojo a través de la calavera.” In 2021 he published the novels “Tres cantos fúnebres para Ella” and “Tremolar” which are part of a tetralogy named “Tetralogía de Q.” Its next 2 books, “El celo de los malditos” and “El Dragón en la Flor,” are expected for release in 2022.

Efraín Villacís

Efraín Villacís (Quito, 1966) is an Ecuadorian novelist, short story writer, playwright, editor, and literary critic. His fiction stories and essays have been published in magazines within and outside of Ecuador. As a literary critic and essayist, he has authored prologues and essays about numerous authors, including Teresa de la Parra, Enrique Gil Gilbert, Erasmo de Roterdam, José Rafael Bustamante, José de la Cuadra, and Mary Shelley. His theater play, “Contrato,” premiered in 1999. He released his debut novel, “La sonrisa hueca del señor Horudi,” in 2018. His latest novel, “Ciudad Jenga,” was published in 2020.

César M. Ayala Paredes

César M. Ayala Paredes aka César Ayala (1923) is an Ecuadorian poet and short story writer. He is known as The Soldier Poet because he served in Ecuador’s armed forces and in 1955 he published a book of poems titled “Los poemas del soldado” [The Soldier’s Poems]. In 2003, the House of Ecuadorian Culture published his short story collection, “Vernissage.” He has earned various awards for his works.

Arturo Montesinos Malo

Arturo Montesinos Malo (Cuenca, August 31, 1913 – May 23, 2009) was an Ecuadorian novelist, professor, and translator who lived in the United States for many years where he worked as a translator at the United Nations in New York. In 1959, he received the “José de la Cuadra” Award for his short story collection “Arcilla indócil,” which is considered by many to be his best work. Some of his Spanish-to-English translations of contemporary writers’ short stories and poems appeared in Letras del Ecuador.

Walter Bellolio

Walter Bellolio (Guayaquil, 1930 – 1974) was a well-regarded Ecuadorian short story writer. During his lifetime, he published a number of short story collections, and his work has appeared in several anthologies. He traveled to Spain in 1974 to publish the book that would make him famous, “Crónica del hombre que aprendió a llorar,” [Story of the Man Who Learned to Cry] but was killed by a car that struck him shortly after arriving. The House of Ecuadorian Culture published the book posthumously in 1975. He is the maternal grandfather of the writer Daniela Alcívar Bellolio.

Verónica Coello Moreira

Verónica Coello Moreira (Guayaquil, 1975) is an Ecuadorian journalist, writer, and university and high school professor. She is the author of the novel “Memoria de Papel” (2021), which won the Miguel Riofro National Literary Award, as well as the short story collection “La cena” (2017). She is a columnist for the newspapers El Universo (Ecuador) and El Peruano (Peru), as well as the co-host of the political talk show “Al día.”

Gustavo Garzón

César Gustavo Garzón Guzmán (Quito, June 8, 1958) was an Ecuadorian writer and literary critic who vanished without a trace on November 9, 1990. In 1980, he joined Miguel Donoso Pareja’s literary workshop at the House of Ecuadorian Culture and co-founded the literary group “La Mosca Zumba.” On November 9, 1990, he went out with a group of friends to a dance club and was never seen again. At the time, the 32-year-old writer was living in Quito, Ecuador, where he was working on his doctoral thesis in Literature at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. On January 28, 2021 the Ecuadorian government admitted responsibility for his kidnapping before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. A documentary about his life, “Brutal como el rasgar de un fósforo,” was made in 2021.