Ignacio Lasso

Ignacio Lasso (Quito, 1911 – 1943) was an Ecuadorian poet who was the mentor and founder of the magazine of the poets of Elan, a group comprised of Ecuadorian poets born between 1905 and 1920. He worked with several magazines during his career.

Sonia Guiñansaca

Sonia Guiñansaca (Cuenca, 1989) is a migrant poet, cultural organizer and activist whose work aims for culture equality and social justice, focusing on migrant rights, climate change, LGBTQ+ rights, and gender discrimination. At the age of 5 Guiñansaca migrated to the United States to reunite with her parents in New York City.

Alfredo Gangotena

Alfredo Gangotena Fernandez Salvador (Guayaquil, April 19, 1904 – Quito, December 23, 1944) was an Ecuadorian poet who wrote in French and Spanish. In Paris in the 1920’s he befriended Jean Cocteau, Jules Supervielle, Henri Michaux and Max Jacob.

Medardo Ángel Silva

Medardo Ángel Silva Rodas (Guayaquil, June 8, 1898 – Guayaquil, June 10, 1919) was an Ecuadorian poet, writer, and journalist, known as one of the most significant members of the Generación Decapitada (Decapitated Generation), a group of modernist poets in early 20th-century Ecuador. His work, heavily influenced by French symbolism and the modernist movement led by Rubén Darío, explored themes of love, melancholy, and death. Silva published his poetry in his collection El árbol del bien y del mal (1918) and gained national recognition with his poem “El alma en los labios,” later made famous as a song by Julio Jaramillo. His tragic death at 21, widely believed to be a suicide, remains shrouded in mystery, further enshrining his place in Ecuadorian literary history.

Vicente Amador Flor

Vicente Amador Flor Cedeño (Portoviejo, July 19, 1903 – December 3, 1975) was an Ecuadorian poet known for his poems about his native city Portoviejo. The central park of Portoviejo has borne his name since October 30, 1981, and many educational institutions in Ecuador bear his name. In 1983 a bust statue of Flor was placed in the central park of Portoviejo.

Luis Enrique Fierro

Luis Enrique Fierro (Tulcán, Carchi Province, November 14, 1936) is an Ecuadorian physician, writer and poet. His literary portfolio includes poetry collections like “Baratillo de esperanza,” “Metástasis,” “Arrecife,” “De Muelles y Caminos,” and “Antología Poética.” In the medical field, Fierro served as the Provincial Director of Health from 1965 to 1972 and later became the director of the pediatrics department at the Luis Gabriel Dávila Hospital. His cultural contributions extended to leadership roles as well, where he served three terms as the president of the Carchi branch of the House of Ecuadorian Culture during the periods of 1983-1987, 1992-1997, and 2001-2005. Ecuador’s president honored Fierro with the Eugenio Espejo Award in Culture in 2005.

Humberto Fierro

Humberto Fierro Jarrín (Quito, June 17, 1890 – Quito, August 23, 1929) was an Ecuadorian poet of modernismo, a literary movement that took place primarily during the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth-century in the Spanish-speaking world. He was close friends with Arturo Borja, Ernesto Noboa, and other tormented poets of the early twentieth century who committed suicide and were thus dubbed the “Decapitated Generation.” This group was heavily influenced by Rubén Darío’s modernismo movement as well as 19th-century French romantic poetry. Fierro’s best known poems can be found in his poetry collections, “El laud en el valle,” published in 1919, and “La Velada Palatina,” published posthumously in 1949. He spent almost all of his working life as a clerk in a Public Ministry Office. He died at the age of 39 in 1929 from a mountain fall, which some believe was suicide.

Jacinto de Evia

Jacinto de Evia (Guayaquil, circa 1629 – 17??) was a priest and poet from the Spanish colonial period in Guayaquil, in what is now Ecuador. He is considered the first erotic poet of Ecuadorian literature because of poems he wrote in his younger years which he published in a book entitled, “Ramillete de Varias Flores Poéticas“ (Spain, 1675). The book also contains poems by his mentor Antonio de Bastidas and Hernando Domínguez Camargo. Some year prior to 1650, he traveled to Quito to study at the seminary school of San Luis, of the Society of Jesus, where he became a pupil of the great poet Antonio de Bastidas.

Siomara España

Siomara España Muñoz (Paján, January 4, 1976) is an Ecuadorian poet, essayist, professor and literary critic. She has been the director of the literature branch of the Guayas chapter of the House of Ecuadorian Culture, a high school teacher, a literature professor at the University of Guayaquil, the director of the School of Literature in the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Guayaquil, the director of Research and Postgraduate Studies at the University of the Arts, and a professor of literature at the University of the Arts.

Oswaldo Calisto Rivera

Oswaldo Calisto Rivera, known by his pen name Cachibache, often spelled Cachivache (Quito, September 22, 1979 – October 10, 2000) was an Ecuadorian poet and painter who died of suicide at the age of 21. In 2001 Cachibache’s only book of poems “Rojo encanto de la marmota” was published posthumously by the House of Ecuadorian Culture in Quito. He also completed a yet unpublished poetic trilogy which consists of: “La cachiva,” “Comible Sr. Lucas Alombrey” and “La falta de pantuflismo.” Cachibache’s poems have been included in several anthologies, such as Memorias del primer festival de poesía joven Hugo Mayo (2005), 13 poetas ecuatorianos nacidos en los 70 (2008), and Premonición a las puertas (2012).

Arturo Borja

Arturo Borja Pérez (Quito, Ecuador, September 15, 1892 – Quito, Ecuador, November 13, 1912) was an Ecuadorian poet associated with the “Generación decapitada” (Decapitated Generation), a group of young poets known for their tragic early deaths. Borja was the first of the group to adopt Modernist styles, drawing influence from French Symbolist poets like Baudelaire and Verlaine, whom he studied while in Paris seeking medical treatment. His poetic output, though limited, includes twenty-eight poems compiled in the posthumous collection La flauta de ónix (1920). Known for themes of melancholy and existential reflection, his work has made a lasting impact on Ecuadorian literature, marking him as a key figure in early 20th-century Ecuadorian poetry.

The poets of Elan

The ELAN Group (grupo Elan) emerged as a vibrant literary movement in Cuenca, Ecuador, during the 1940s, representing the neosymbolism or lyrical vanguard movement. They marked a significant departure from previous styles of poetry, aiming to create an authentic and innovative form of Cuenca poetry. Comprised of writers, artists, poets, and journalists born between 1905 and 1920, ELAN shared a sense of unity in their cultural outlook. ELAN’s poetry, characterized by clarity and humanism, continues to exert influence on contemporary literary circles. Within this group, Efraín Jara Idrovo stands out as an exceptional figure known for his remarkable contributions. Their early works and subsequent contributions were documented in various publications, showcasing their dedication to the craft. In 1972, Antonio Lloret Bastidas paid tribute to the lasting impact of the ELAN Group through his publication “Motivos de la Poesía Cuencana” and further honored them with a dedicated volume in his “Antología de la Poesía Cuencana.” The ELAN Group played a pivotal role in shaping the literary landscape of Cuenca and left a lasting impact on the poetry of the region.

Fanny Carrión de Fierro

Fanny Carrión de Fierro (1936) is an Ecuadorian poet, literary critic, essayist and university professor. She is a 4-time winner of Ecuador’s Gabriela Mistral National Poetry Award. She has published essays on a variety of topics, including politics, culture, and society. Her poems have also appeared in English-language anthologies such as “These Are Not Sweet Girls: Poetry by Latin American Women” (1994) and “Eye to Eye-Women: Their Words and Worlds” (1997). She has taught at several universities in Ecuador and the United States. She is currently a professor at Ecuador’s Pontifical Catholic University (Quito). She has also been a visiting professor and Fulbright Scholar at Keene State College in New Hampshire, Willamette University in Oregon, and several other universities in Ecuador. Her work has been translated into English.

Family

Fanny Carrión de Fierro’s parents were Luis Enrique Carrión Carvajal and Leonor Acosta from Ibarra, Ecuador. Carrión de Fierro married Gustavo Adolfo Fierro Zevallos (Ph.D. in linguistics). They had four children: Gustavo Adolfo, Patricia Natalia, Luis Alberto and Pablo Fernando.

Education

She received a Doctorate in Literature from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (Quito, 1981), as well as a Master of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s degree (Licenciatura) in Education from the Central University of Ecuador.

She has been on the board of the Association of College Professors of the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador in Quito. She is also on the board on several development non-governmental organizations.

Member of

“Grupo America” – an Ecuadorian literary group.
Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana [Ecuadorian House of Culture], Literature Section.

Works

Poetry

En la Voz del Silencio (1980)
Ten poems translated into English included in the anthology These are not Sweet Girls, Poetry by Latin American Women, edited by Marjorie Agosin (1994)
Where light was born: A personal anthology of selected poems by Fanny Carrión de Fierro (1999; translated by Sally Cheney Bell)
Donde nació la Luz: Antología Personal (2000)
Desde el beso del tiempo and Esta voz, in Poetic Voices without Borders, edited by Robert L. Girón (2005)
Alfa Amor, Donde Nació la Luz and Geografía del Corazón, in Poetic Voices without Borders 2, edited by Robert L. Girón (2009)
Ecuador, on erotic attraction, “Hidden Pleasure” in Eye to Eye-Women: Their Words and Worlds, edited by Vanessa Baird, introduction by Anita Desai (1997)

Short stories

The Golden Ear of Corn and Other Stories, bilingual collection of short stories. Centro de Publicaciones de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, October 2010.

Criticism

José de la Cuadra: Precursor del realismo mágico hispanoamericano (1993)
Los Sangurimas, novela precursora de Cien Años de soledad, an essay about the novel “Los Sangurimas” by José de la Cuadra
Cien Años de Soledad, Historia y Mito de lo Americano, in: Lectura de García Márquez (Doce Estudios), edited by Manuel Corrales Pascual (Quito: Centro de Publicaciones de la Pontifica Universidad Católica de Ecuador, 1975)

Awards

Gabriela Mistral National Poetry Award (1958, 1961, 1981 and 1985)
National Poetry Award of Ecuador (1962)
“Juana de Ibarbuoru” Poetry Prize, Montevideo, Uruguay (1995).

Other writers with the last name Carrión

Fanny León Cordero

Fanny León Cordero (Gualaceo Canton, October 15, 1920) was an Ecuadorian jurist and poet. León was a member of the Association of Contemporary Writers of Ecuador, whose annual poetry contest is named after her. In 1947 León became Ecuador’s first female jurist, she worked as a judge for 31 years.

Mauro Javier Cárdenas

Mauro Javier Cárdenas is a critically-acclaimed Ecuadorian novelist. He was born and raised in Guayaquil and studied economics at Stanford University. The New York Times called Cárdenas’ debut novel, The Revolutionaries Try Again, “an original, insubordinate novel.” In 2017, the Hay Festival included Cárdenas in Bogotá39, a selection of the best young Latin American novelists working today. Cárdenas has lived in the U.S. for over a decade. Writing about Cárdenas’ latest novel, Aphasia (2020), literary critic Carlos Fonseca wrote: “Mauro Javier Cárdenas has knocked down the novel as we know it, and built a cathedral out of the debris. Aphasia is monumental, funny, potent, and fresh. It marks a new beginning.”