Vladimiro Rivas Iturralde (Latacunga, June 5, 1944) is an Ecuadorian novelist, short story writer, biographer, opera critic, essayist, editor, translator, and award-winning university professor. He has been a resident of Mexico since 1973 and also holds Mexican citizenship. Since its establishment in 1974, he has been a professor at the Azcapotzalco Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City. He has produced eight collections of short stories, two novels, and five nonfiction books. Some of his work has been translated to English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Bulgarian. He has also been the editor of anthologies of Ecuadorian writers, such as the acclaimed “Cuento ecuatoriano contemporáneo,” which was released in Mexico in 2001 and promptly translated into English as “Contemporary Ecuadorian Short Stories” in 2002.
Education
Rivas graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador in Quito with a degree in education and linguistics. In 1973, Rivas arrived in Mexico on a scholarship from the Comunidad Latinoamericana de Escritores [Latin American Writers Community] and settled permanently, becoming a Mexican citizen and starting a family. He received a Master’s degree in Latin American Literature from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In 1974, he became a professor at the newly established Azcapotzalco Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City, where he still teaches today.
Opera Critic
Rivas worked as an opera critic for the Mexican newspapers La Crónica and Milenio, as well as the specialized magazines Pauta and Pro Ópera. In 2020 he published a collection of his essays on opera in a book, “Noches de opera.”
Works
Novels
- El legado del tigre, Quito – México, 1997
- La caída y la noche, México – Quito, 2000
Short stories
- El demiurgo, Quito, 1968
- Historia del cuento desconocido, México, 1974
- Los bienes, México, 1981
- Vivir del cuento, Quito, 1993
- Visita íntima, México, 2011
- Música para nadie, Quito, 2016
- El amante y el artefacto soviético, México, 2017
- Relatos reunidos, Quito, 2019
Nonfiction
- Desciframientos y complicidades, México, 1991
- Mundo tatuado, Quito, 2003
- César Dávila Andrade: El poema, pira del sacrificio, Quito, 2008
- Repertorio literario, México, 2014
- Noches de ópera, México, UAM, 2020
He was the editor or helped edit the following books
- Hélice: Estudio introductorio, Quito, Banco Central del Ecuador, 1989
- Jorge Enrique Adoum. El tiempo y las palabras, Quito, Libresa, 1992
- Herman Melville. Moby Dick, Quito, Libresa, 1993
- Antón Chéjov. Narraciones, Quito, Libresa, 1994
- Naguib Mahfuz. Historias de nuestro barrio, Quito, Libresa, 1995
- Pablo Palacio. Débora y Vida del ahorcado, México, UAM Azcapotzalco, 1995
- Henry James. Otra vuelta de tuerca Quito, Libresa, 1996
- Jorge Carrera Andrade. Antología poética, México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2000
- Poesía ecuatoriana contemporánea, México, Alforja, 2001
- Cuento ecuatoriano contemporáneo, México, UNAM, 2002
- Cuento ecuatoriano contemporáneo, Quito, Paradiso, 2002
- Contemporary Ecuadorian Short Stories, Quito, Paradiso, 2002
Translations
- Joseph Conrad: El cómplice secreto (The secret Sharer), México, Fontamara, 1988, con seis ediciones.
- John Keats: Oda a un ruiseñor (Ode to a Nightingale), México, UAM Azcapotzalco, 1990