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 teaches at the Central University of Ecuador.
Lemas has worked with the following indigenous organizations
- Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (CONAIE)
- Ecuarunari/Confederación de Pueblos de la Nacionalidad Kichwa del Ecuador
- Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas de la Amazonía Ecuatoriana (CONFENIAE)
Awards and recognitions
- In the “Women, Images and Testimonies” contest in Cuenca, she received the publication award as a journalist.
- At the “Third Abya Yala First Nations Film and Video Festival” she received the award in the category “Best Traditional Medicine Video”.
- In 2021, her poetry book “Tengo hambre de tu boca” won the Jorge Carrera Andrade Prize.
Videos
Lucila Lema Otavalo / Poetry Festival: “Lenguas de América 2012”
Yana Lucila Lema Otovalo – Kichwa Otavalo indigenous people (Ecuador)
Works
Short stories
- 2016: Chaska. Quito: Santillana.
Poetry
- 2019: Tamyawan shamukupani (“con la lluvia respetuosamente estoy viniendo”). Ciudad de Guatemala: Tujaal Ediciones.
- 2021: Kampa shimita yarkachini (“Tengo hambre de tu boca”). Quito: Kinti rikra
Poetry compilations
- 2013: Hatun Taki: Poemas de la Madre Tierra y a los Abuelos. Quito: Ediciones Abya-Yala y Centro de Estudios sobre El Buen Vivir y Sumak Kawsay.
- 2016: Ñawpa pachamanta purik rimaykuna (Antiguas palabras andantes). Quito: Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana Benjamín Carrión, Dirección de Publicaciones.
- 2016: Chawpi Pachapi Arawikuna: Nuestra propia palabra. Quito: Editorial Abya-Yala.