Writers from Ambato - Ecuadorian Literature

Jorge Enrique Adoum

Jorge Enrique Adoum, or Jorgenrique Adoum (Ambato, June 29, 1926 – Quito, July 3, 2009) was an Ecuadorian poet, novelist and playwright. Adoum is best known for his poetry collections and his celebrated novel Entre Marx y una mujer desnuda (1976). He is regarded as one of Ecuador’s most important writers and intellectuals of the 20th century. Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda hailed Adoum as “the best Latin American poet of his generation.” An English translation of Adoum’s poetry was published by Katherine M. Hedeen and Víctor Rodríguez Núñez under the title “prepoems in postspanish and other poems” (Action Books, 2021). This collection includes three of Adoum’s most groundbreaking books: “Currículum mortis” [Curriculum Mortis] (1973, 1979), “prepoemas en postespañol” [prepoems in postspanish] (1973, 1979), and “El amor desenterrado” [Love Disinterred] (1993). In 1989 the President of Ecuador conferred on Adoum Ecuador’s highest literary prize, the Eugenio Espejo Award, for his lifetime of literary work.

Homero Viteri Lafronte

Homero Viteri Lafronte (Ambato, January 24, 1892 — Santiago, Chile, November 10, 1976) was an Ecuadorian writer and historian whose published works include historical monographs and conference papers. He earned a jurisprudence doctorate from the Central University of Ecuador. In 1949 he was the head of the Ecuadorian delegation to the U.N. in Lake Success, NY. He was several times President of the Legal-Literary Society of Quito and belonged to several national and international institutions, and also served as the deputy director of Ecuador’s National Academy of History.

Jorge Enrique Adoum – La Caja de Pandora Interviews – Part 1 and 2 (Spanish Audio)

Jorge Enrique Adoum was among Ecuador’s most brilliant writers. In these interviews, made in the latter part of his life, Adoum shares his experiences as a poet, novelist, playwright, politician and diplomat on an Ecuadorian TV program called La Caja de Pandora. Adoum also discusses some of his books, including Ecuador Amargo (1949), Entre Marx y Una Mujer Desnuda (1976), and De Cerca y de Memoria: Lecturas, Autores, Lugares (2002). Adoum was born in Ambato, Ecuador in 1926 and died in Quito, Ecuador on July 3, 2009. He was awarded the nation’s top literary award Premio Eugenio Espejo in 1989.

Part 1

Jorge Enrique Adoum Interviewed on CUNY TV (1998) Spanish Audio

Taped: 3/6/1998)
Length: 28:31

Hosts Jose Maria Conget and Raquel Chang-Rodriguez interview Ecuadorian writer, poet, politician and diplomat, Jorge Enrique Adoum, about his books. “Ecuador Amargo” and “Entre Marx y una Mujer Desnuda,” a novel that was made into a film.

Juan León Mera

Juan León Mera Martínez (Ambato, June 28, 1832 – Ambato, December 13, 1894) was an Ecuadorian poet, novelist, essayist, politician and painter. In 1865 he penned the lyrics for Ecuador’s National Anthem “¡Salve, Oh Patria!” and in 1879 he wrote the novel “Cumandá” which is regarded as Ecuador’s first full-length novel. The novel’s complex characters, lyrical prose, and riveting plot, set against the backdrop of the Amazonian jungle, have made it a revered classic that continues to captivate readers to this day. Juan León Mera was a member of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language, and a corresponding member of the Royal Spanish Academy of Language.