Alicia Yánez Cossío (Quito, September 10, 1928) is an Ecuadorian novelist, poet, short story writer, and journalist. She is considered one of the 2oth Century’s most important literary figures of Ecuador and Latin America. Since 1991 she has been a member of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language. In 1996, with her novel El cristo feo (1995), Yánez became the first Ecuadorian to win the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize (Guadalajara, Mexico), one of the most prestigious awards for female authors in the Spanish speaking world. In 2008 she received Ecuador’s highest literary award, the Eugenio Espejo Award, for her lifetime of work.
Homage to Alicia Yánez Cossío
Family
Yánez’ son is the writer Luis Miguel Campos Yáñez.
Awards
- National Novel Contest – Fiftieth Anniversary of the journal “El UNIVERSO” of Guayaquil (1971)
- The Joaquín Gallegos Lara National Fiction Prize (1995)
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize (1996)
- Eugenio Espejo Award in Literature (2008)
Works
Novels
- Bruna, soroche y los tíos (1973) (English trans. “Bruna and Her Sisters in the Sleeping City” by Kenneth J. A. Wishina, 1999)
- Yo vendo unos ojos negros (1979)
- Más allá de las islas (1980) (English trans. “Beyond the Islands” by Amalia Gladhart, 2011)
- La Cofradía del Mullo de la virgen Pipona (1985) (English trans. “The Potbellied Virgin” by Amalia Gladhart, 2006)
- La casa del sano placer (1989)
- El cristo feo (1995)
- Aprendiendo a morir (1997)
- Y amarle pude… (2000)
- Sé que vienen a matarme (2001)
- Concierto de sombras (2004)
- Esclavos de Chatham (2006)
- Memorias de la Pivihuarmi Cuxirimay Ocllo (2008)
Poetry
- Luciolas (1949)
- De la sangre y el tiempo (1964)
- Plebeya mínima (1974)
Short stories
- El beso y otras fricciones (1975)
- Relatos cubanos (1998)
Theather
- Hacia el Quito de ayer (1951)
Children’s literature
- El viaje de la abuela (1997)
- Pocapena (1997)
- Los triquitraques (2002)
- ¡No más! (2004)
- La canoa de la abuela (2006)