Alejandro Carrión Aguirre (Loja, March 11, 1915 – Quito, January 4, 1992) was an Ecuadorian poet, novelist and journalist. He wrote numerous poetry books, short story books, and the novel La espina (1959). As a journalist he published many articles under the pseudonym “Juan Sin Cielo.” He was the nephew of the writer Benjamín Carrión and the naturalist Clodoveo Carrión. He was a recipient of the Maria Moors Cabot Prize (1961) from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He also was awarded the Eugenio Espejo Award (1981), Ecuador’s highest literary honor.
Famous family members
- Benjamín Carrión (1897–1979), important Ecuadorian writer and founder of the House of Ecuadorian Culture.
- Clodoveo Carrión (1883–1957), regarded as the most prolific and erudite natural scientist of Ecuador of the 20th century.
- Manuel Alejandro Carrión Riofrío, grandfather
- José Miguel Carrión Mora, father
- Héctor Manuel and ManuelBenjamín, uncles
- Emiliano MoraBermeo, great uncle
- Eduardo Mora Moreno and Manuel José Aguirre, second ucles.
Works
Poetry
A selection of Alejandro Carrión’s poetry was recorded in Quito for the Library of Congress in Washington; a copy of that recording is housed at Harvard University’s “House of the Poetry”. Alejandro told of his emotional reaction to hearing his own words when visiting in the company of the American modernist poet Archibald McLeish: “small satisfactions that illuminate the life of a poet.”
- Poemas de un portero – Poems of a Doorman (1932–1934)
- Luz del nuevo paisaje – Light of the New Landscape (1934–1935)
- Poesía de la soledad y el deseo – Poetry of Solitude and Desire (1934–1939)
- Agonía del árbol y la sangre – Agony of the Tree and the Blood (1934–1944)
- La noche oscura – Dark Night (1934–1954)
- La sangre sobre la tierra – The Blood on the Earth (1946–1957)
- Nunca! Nunca – Never! Never (1955–1957)
- El Tiempo que pasa – “Time that Passes” (1957–1962)
- Poeta y peregrino – “Poet and Traveler” (1960–1965)
- Poesia primera jornadad – “Poetry anthology, the early years” (1932–1957)
- Poesia segunda jornada – “Poetry anthology, the final years” (1957–1984)
- Aquí, España Nuestra!, tres poemas en esperanza y amargura (1938)
- Cuaderno de canciones (1954)
- Canto a la América Española (1954)
Novel
- La espina (1959)
Short Story
- Muerte en su Isla (1968)
- La llave perdida (1970)
- Mala procesión de hormigas (1978)
- La manzana dañada (1983)
- Divino tesoro (1983)
- Una pequeña muerte (1983)
History
- Primicias de la poesía quiteña (1954)
- Los poetas quiteños de “El Ocioso en Faenza” (1957)
- La otra historia, ensayos (1978)
- Antología General de la Poesía Ecuatoriana durante la Colonia Española (1992)
- El último rincón del mundo (1992)
Prose
- Los compañeros de Don Quixote (1948)
- Elogio de la novela policíaca (1948)
- Los Colores del Sueño (1972)
- Nuestro Simón Bolívar (1983)
- Galería de retratos (1983)
- Los caminos de Dios (1983)
- Gana de hablar (1983)
- En el país de los Golillas (1983)
- La pavimentación del infierno (1983)
Journalism
- Esta vida de Quito por Juan sin Cielo (1983)
- Una Cierta Sonrisa (1992)