Magical realist writers - Ecuadorian Literature

Ernesto Quiñonez is an American novelist born in Ecuador in 1969. He was raised in Spanish Harlem, New York City, by a communist father from Ecuador and a Jehovah’s Witness mother from Puerto Rico. He is a product of public education from kindergarten to his Masters at the City College of New York where he studied under the American novelist Walter Mosley. Quiñonez’s debut novel, Bodega Dreams, was published in 2000, which the New York Times declared “a New Immigrant Classic”. In an interview with Publisher’s Weekly, Quiñonez said “My goal, in all three of my books, including Chango’s Fire, is to bring magical realism to the barrios, make it more urban.” His work has received the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers designation, the Borders Bookstore Original New Voice selection, and was declared a “Best Book” by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. He is currently an Associate Professor at Cornell University where he teaches Narrative Writing and Honors Essay Tutorial courses.

Demetrio Aguilera Malta (Guayaquil, May 24, 1909 – Mexico, December 28, 1981) was a multi-talented artist and diplomat born on May 24, 1909, in Guayaquil, who excelled in various fields such as novel writing, short stories, painting, film making, and playwriting. He gained prominence with his book of short stories “Los que se van: cuentos del cholo y del montubio” in 1930, co-authored with Joaquín Gallegos Lara and Enrique Gil Gilbert. Some of his other noteworthy works include the novels “Don Goyo” (1933), “Seven Serpents and Seven Moons” (1970) which was translated into English by Gregory Rabassa, and “El secuestro del General” (1973). In 1981, he was awarded the Premio Eugenio Espejo, the highest literary honor in the country.