Mary Corylé

María Ramona Cordero y León (pen name Mary Corylé) was an Ecuadorian poet, journalist, playwright, researcher and teacher. She was born in Cuenca on May 21, 1894 and died in the same city on May 7, 1976. She wrote many poems, lyrics for hymns and pasillos (traditional music of Ecuador), and also wrote plays. Among her many accomplishments, she founded the Municipal Library of Cuenca. Before her death, she donated all her works to the Remigio Crespo Toral Museum in Cuenca. Among Corylé‘s most famous poems is Bésame (1925), which critics consider one of the most erotic Ecuadorian poems of the early 2oth century.

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Juan Pablo Castro

Juan Pablo Castro Rodas (Cuenca, 1971) is a renowned Ecuadorian novelist, short story writer, and poet. He has received several prestigious literary awards, including the Miguel Donoso Pareja Prize, the Joaquín Gallegos Lara Prize (twice), and the Aurelio Espinosa Pólit Prize. His notable works encompass 7 novels, 2 short story collections, and a book of poems. In 2022, Juan Pablo Castro received the Aurelio Espinosa Pólit National Literature Prize for his novel “Mizuko: los Niños del Agua,” one of Ecuador’s most important literary awards. Castro’s talent lies in intertwining personal experiences with imaginative storytelling, crafting evocative prose and introspective narratives that have made him a celebrated figure in contemporary Ecuadorian literature.

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Jorge Dávila Vázquez

Jorge Dávila Vázquez is a writer, professor and film critic. Dávila Vázquez was born on February 14, 1947 in Cuenca, Ecuador. Dávila Vázquez has written novels, plays, short stories, poetry and nonfiction. He is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Aurelio Espinosa Pólit Prize, for his experimental novel María Joaquina en la vida y en la muerte (1976), and for his short story collection Este mundo es el camino (1980). His short story book El libro de los sueños (2001) won the Joaquín Gallegos Lara Prize. In 2016, Dávila was awarded Ecuador’s top literary prize, the Eugenio Espejo Award.

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Josué Augusto Durán

Josué Augusto Durán Hermida is a writer from Cuenca, Ecuador. In 2019, at the age of 25, his nonfiction book El abandono de la experiencia (originally titled Minutas de bulla under the pen name San Ambrosio) was awarded the XLIV Aurelio Espinosa Pólit National Prize for Literature. Durán currently resides in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

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Juan Valdano

Juan Valdano Morejón (Cuenca, December 26, 1939 – Quito, August 2, 2021) was an award-winning writer of over 30 books encompassing a variety of genres, such as novels, short stories and nonfiction. He was a corresponding member of the Royal Spanish Academy and an honorary member of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language. He was awarded Ecuador’s top literary award Premio Eugenio Espejo in 2020. He also won the Joaquín Gallegos Lara Prize three times. Director Camilo Luzuriaga adapted his 1990 historical novel Mientras llega el día into a film in 2004.

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