Carlos Eduardo Jaramillo

Carlos Eduardo Jaramillo Castillo (Loja, 1932) is an Ecuadorian poet, lawyer, and former minister judge of the Supreme Court of Justice. His major works include: “Escrito sobre la arena, 150 poemas” [Written on the sand, 150 poems] (1960), “La Trampa” [The Trap] (1964), “Maneras de vivir y de morir” [Ways to Live and Die] (1965), “La noche y los vencidos” [The Night and the Vanquished] (1967) and “Las desvelaciones de Jacob” [Jacob’s Revelations] (1970). He was on the General Board of the House of Ecuadorian Culture, representing Guayas. He was also the institution’s deputy director. He was awarded the Eugenio Espejo Prize in Literature in 2007 by the President of Ecuador.

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Ruth Patricia Rodríguez

Ruth Patricia Rodríguez Serrano (Loja, 1966) is a poet, fiction writer, and professor at the University of San Francisco of Quito. In 2005, she received the Pablo Palacio literary merit award from the Provincial Council of Loja. Rodríguez has achieved recognition for her literary works, particularly in the genres of children’s stories, youth stories, novels, and poetry. She has won two national contests for children’s and youth stories, organized by Círculo de Lectores and Pablo Palacio, respectively. Her writing has been featured in various national and international magazines and anthologies. Her novels include Putas de Cristal (2010) and Clepsidra (2020)

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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). His work has been praised for its originality and its contribution to the development of Ecuadorian literature. 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.

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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.

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