March 2021 - Ecuadorian Literature

Carlos F. Granado Guarnizo

Carlos Francisco Granado Guarnizo (Guayaquil, 1890 – 1946) was an Ecuadorian poet, writer, playwright, literary critic and journalist. In 1913 he began publishing literary articles in the magazine El Telégrafo Literario under the pseudonym Lohengrim, and in 1914 in the newspaper El Cascabel under the pseudonym Antonio de Tarfes. In 1915 he began publishing poems in the magazine El Guante. That same year he wrote his poems, “Rotativa” and “Jesús,” which he donated to the Children’s Protection Society, which published them on their own account with a prologue by Nicolás Augusto González. In 1916 he founded the magazine Helios which he directed until its last issue in 1918. In 1917 he published his play Justicia, which Ricardo Descalzi described as one of Ecuador’s first works of social theater. A second edition of the play was published in 1939, the proceeds of which he donated to the Freemasons of Guayaquil. He had been a Freemason since 1919. His brother Miguel Ángel Granado Guarnizo was also a poet.

George Reyes

George Reyes (Los Ríos, Ecuador, 1960) is an Ecuadorian poet, essayist, editor, theology professor, and pastor. He has been a permanent resident of Mexico for many years. He has a bachelor’s degree in theology, two master’s degrees in theology, and is a PhD candidate in theology. He is the author of two books on Biblical hermeneutics and co-author of two books on theology. He’s also the author of two poetry collections, “El azul de la tarde” (2015) and “Ese otro exilio, esa otra patria” (2016). He is listed in Mexico’s Encyclopedia of Literature.

Ricardo de la Fuente

Ricardo de la Fuente (Llanura, Argentina) was an Argentinian writer, journalist and professor who immigrated to Ecuador in 1976 and lived in the coastal city of Manta since 1985. He pursued humanities and journalism studies at the University of La Plata. Later, he worked for radio stations and publications up until 1976, when the military dictatorship in Argentina imprisoned him without actually ever bringing any charges against him. He relocated to Ecuador after being set free, where he established a family and worked as a journalist. He contributed to the Diario Manabita and El Sol newspapers in Ecuador. He received the “la Pluma de Oro” medal from the “Jorge Mantilla Ortega” national journalism competition in 1997. He wrote about a dozen nonfiction books and a novel entitled “Tagua. Una Historia de Ultramar.” He taught at the Faculty of Communication Sciences at the University of Manta.

María Auxiliadora Balladares

María Auxiliadora Balladares Uquillas (Guayaquil, 1980) is an Ecuadorian writer, poet, and professor at Universidad San Francisco de Quito. She holds a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature from the University of Pittsburgh and has published widely in poetry, short stories, and essays. Her short story Jamón serrano won second place in the 10th Pablo Palacio Short Story Biennial, and her major works include Las vergüenzas (2013), Animal (2017), Guayaquil (2019), and Acantile duerme piloto (2022), which earned her the 2023 Jorge Carrera Andrade Award. Her writing often explores themes of identity, LGBTQI+ issues, and the natural world.

Augusto Rodríguez

Augusto Rodríguez (Guayaquil, 1979) is an Ecuadorian poet, journalist, editor of El Quirófano Ediciones, university professor in Guayaquil and director of the Ileana Espinel Cedeño International Poetry Festival. He is the author of 20 books of poetry, short stories, novels, interviews and essays in prestigious publishing houses in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Peru and Ecuador. His work has won numerous awards and is featured in various anthologies. He is one of the founders of the cultural group Buseta de Papel. He has participated in several literary events inside and outside of Ecuador. Part of his poetic work has been translated into twelve languages: English, Arabic, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian, Italian, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Serbian and Medumba.

Ana Cecilia Blum

Ana Cecilia Blum (Guayaquil, March 17, 1972) is an Ecuadorian poet, essayist, fiction writer, editor, translator and journalist. She studied political and social sciences at the Vicente Rocafuerte Secular University in Guayaquil. She earned a postgraduate degree in “Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language” from Colorado State University (U.S.). She is the founder and editor-in-chief of the digital magazine Metaforología which publishes poetry, fiction and essays. She currently lives between Ecuador and the United States. Some of her work has been translated into English, French, Italian and Portuguese.

Zaida Letty Castillo

Zaida Letty Castillo de Saavedra (Guayaquil, February 5, 1890 – Guayaquil, July 30, 1977) was an Ecuadorian poet. She hailed from a family of journalists and writers. She wrote under the pseudonym Djenana, which she adopted from a character in “Les Désenchantées,” a French novel by Pierre Loti. She published her works in “El Telegrafo Literario,” a literary supplement of the newspaper El Telégrafo, owned by her family. She also directed the supplement “La mujer y el Arte” of the Peruvian newspaper “El Comercio,” as well as other publications in Ecuador and Venezuela. She was a founder of the Guayas branch of the House of Ecuadorian Culture and her poetry appears in several anthologies of Latin American poetry.

Natalí Romero Torres

Natalí Romero Torres (Manta) is a doctor, clinical sexologist, poet, and writer. She is the author of the poetry collection “El amor en tacones” (2018). Alexis Cuzme, director of the publishing house Tinta Ácida, commented that “El amor en tacones” was written for women. The book’s themes include sensuality, love, heartbreak, disappointment, and emotional support.

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).