Posts - Ecuadorian Literature

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.

Cristian Avecillas

Cristian Avecillas Sigüenzas (Quito, 1977) is an Ecuadorian poet, essayist, playwright, actor, singer and songwriter. He directed the cultural magazine CAMINARTE of the El Telégrafo radio. In 2008 his poetry book “Todos los cadáveres soy yo” received honorable mention at the Casa de las Américas literary prize competition (Cuba). That same year his poetry book “Ecce Homo II” won the César Dávila Andrade National Poetry Prize. He also wrote a book-length biographical study on Edmundo Ribadeneira. His first play Funeraria Travel (2009) won the Latin American Dramaturgy Award (Argentina). It had its debut in 2009 in La Plata, Argentina, and has been performed at theater festivals in Perú, Venezuela, Uruguay and Ecuador.

Patricio Guzmán Cárdenas

Patricio Guzmán Cárdenas (Cuenca, January 31, 1965) is a doctor, writer and poet. He has lived in Loja since the age of 14 and works as an anesthesiologist at the Macas General Hospital. His works have been published in different cities of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador. His poems cover a wide range of topics, many of which are inspired by his work as an anesthesiologist. He has published 4 books of poetry and a book of stories.

Julia Veintimilla Jaramillo

Julia Veintimilla Jaramillo (Zaruma, El Oro, Ecuador, 1964) is a poet and writer. She is a Theologian, graduated from the IITD Institute, an extension of the Catholic University of Guayaquil. Since 2015 she has represented Ecuador in international poetry events in Peru (UNIVA World Eco-Poetry Festival, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), Colombia (World Concert of Ecological Verses and Brushes, 2017) and in Mexico (First International Misantla Poetry Encounter, 2018).

Nelson Jaramillo Mora

Nelson Jaramillo Mora (Zaruma, El Oro, Ecuador, circa 1930-2017) was an Ecuadorian writer and archaeologist. He worked as a professor of history and civics for over 35 years. Jaramillo Mora wrote short stories, essays, biographies, poems and books on history and archeology.

Antonio Lloret Bastidas

Antonio Lloret Bastidas (Cuenca, February 5, 1920 – November 5, 2000) was an Ecuadorian writer, journalist, critic and educator. He wrote several books of various genres: poetry, history, biography, fiction and nonfiction. From 1947 to 1960, he received several poetry awards, and in 1975, his novel “Los signos de la Llama,” which received praise from Jorge Luis Borges, won the House of Ecuadorian Culture’s novel competition. That same year, the Municipality of Cuenca awarded him the “Fray Vicente Solano” Cultural Award. In 1993, he joined the Ecuadorian Academy of Language. He was a founding member of the Azuay Union of Journalists and the Director of the Municipal Library. In 1993, Cuenca’s Municipal Council named him “Lifetime Chronicler of Cuenca.”

César Hermida Bustos

César Hermida Bustos (Cuenca, 1943) is an Ecuadorian doctor, university professor and novelist. He is the son of the writer Dr. César Hermida Piedra. He was a professor at the Central University of Quito from 1972 to 1993. Later he was an honorary professor there. In 2019 his novel Amoríos won the “La Linares” award. He returned to live in Cuenca in 2018.

César Hermida Piedra

Dr. César Hermida Piedra (Cuenca, 1912-2005) was a doctor, university professor, writer, poet and a historian of Ecuadorian medicine. He served as the Undersecretary-General of Health at the Ministry of Public Health in Quito. As a professor in the Medical Sciences Department of the University of Cuenca, Dr. Piedra taught “history of medicine.” His son, César Hermida Bustos, is an award-winning novelist.

Agustín Cuesta Vintimilla

Agustín Cuesta Vintimilla (Cuenca, 1884 – December 6, 1946) was an Ecuadorian poet, medical doctor, university professor, historian, legislator, and director of public assistance. “Cantos de mi heredad,” his poetry collection, was published in 1918. A school bearing his name can be found in Baños, a parish located to the south-west of the Cuenca canton.

Gonzalo Llona

Gonzalo Llona Marchena (Lima, Peru, March 21, 1864 – May 20, 1933) was a poet and journalist. He was the son of the famous Ecuadorian poet Numa Pompilio Llona. He was a staff editor of the newspaper El Telegrafo. He wrote the hymns of several schools, a labor union, the firefighters of Guayaquil and the Boy Scouts of Ecuador. In 1921 he published “Ecos del alma,” a collection of hymns and patriotic poems.

Juan Eusebio Molestina

Juan Eusebio Molestina Matheus (Guayaquil, 1850 – ?) was an Ecuadorian poet and playwright known for his poetic dramas. His dramatic career crossed the year 1895 which marked the end of romanticism and the beginning of modernism in Ecuador. Molestina’s play Espinas y abrojos (Thistles and Thorns), performed in Guayaquil in 1898, exemplifies the theater known as criollista and is considered as a precursor of the realist and social theater.

Francisco J. Falquez Ampuero

Francisco José Falquez Ampuero (Guayaquil, April 17, 1877 – Guayaquil, March 23, 1947) was an Ecuadorian poet, lawyer, diplomat, prosecutor, prose writer and French to Spanish translator. He was appointed Governor of León Province by President Eloy Alfaro (his godfather) and held various other public posts. His rich and extensive literary production includes verse, fiction and journalism. His sonnet collection, Gobelinos (1919), received praise from critics and literati, and is regarded as his best work. He participated in the movements that culminated in the bloody Revolution of November 15, 1922, hence the government of President José Luis Tamayo (1920 – 1924) ordered his exile to Lima, Peru, where he remained until 1923. He then returned to Guayaquil to practice law.