Posts - Ecuadorian Literature

Vicente Rocafuerte

Vicente Rocafuerte Bejarano (Guayaquil, May 1, 1783 – Lima, Peru, May 16, 1847) was an independence leader, statesman, diplomat, politician and writer. He was born into wealth and was educated in Spain. He returned to Ecuador in 1807 and was instrumental in freeing the country from Spain and, subsequently, from Gran Colombia. He served in the National Congress, as governor of Guayas Province, and as the second president of Ecuador (from 1834 to 1839). Rocafuerte’s writings on political systems, social reform, religious toleration, and economic development had significant influence on liberals in several Spanish American nations. Several schools and various awards are named after him, and many statues throughout Ecuador stand in his honor.

Fernando Jurado Noboa

Fernando Jurado Noboa (Quito, 1944) is an Ecuadorian psychiatrist, historian, biographer, essayist and genealogist. Between 1967 and 1975, he studied medicine at the Central University of Ecuador, and from 1976-1979 he studied psychiatry in Spain. In 1973 he became the youngest member of the Ecuadorian Academy of History. He has been one of the most prolific historic researchers in Ecuador and he has published a large number of works. He has authored more than 50 books and 500 articles in historical and medical journals. He founded Ceniga in Quito (1980) and Sociedad Amigos de la Genealogía (1983).

Carlos H. Endara

Carlos Honorato Endara Garzon, pseudonym Delittante (Quito, December 19, 1896 – Quito, August 2, 1938) was an Ecuadorian poet, essayist, journalist and literary critic. He founded and directed the magazines Ecos Juveniles, Atenea, Bolas y Boladas, and Vida intelectual. He was also a contributor of the magazines Letras and Renacimientos. He worked as a journalist for El Dia before founding Figaro in 1925, an elegantly presented magazine illustrated with Lattore’s satirical caricatures. In 1924, he published “La alcoba de los éxtasis,” a collection of chronicles and short stories.

Miguel Moreno Serrano

Miguel Moreno Serrano (Cuenca, July 27, 1886 – Cuenca, January 19, 1943) was an Ecuadorian poet and literary critic. He had a PhD in biology as well as a medical degree in surgery, but he never practiced. He worked as the director of the Bank of Azuay, secretary of the University of Cuenca, and treasurer of Public Assistance of Azuay. He was the son of the poet Miguel Moreno Ordóñez.

J.O. Llaguno

Jerónimo Orión Llaguno Márquez (also known as J. Orión Llaguno and J. O. Llaguno) (Puebloviejo, September 30, 1869 – Guayaquil, May 16, 1965) was an Ecuadorian poet, journalist, and civic leader. He was a founding member of the Circle of Journalists of Guayas in 1936 and also wrote the hymn for El Universo, one of Ecuador’s oldest newspapers. Llaguno’s poetry, rooted in Romanticism, is best known through works such as Frondas poéticas (1909) and Resonancias de mis selvas (1953). Over his career, he contributed significantly to Ecuadorian literature and journalism, receiving numerous accolades, including being named Redactor Vitalicio (Lifetime Editor) of El Universo.

Carlos F. Granado Guarnizo

Carlos Francisco Granado Guarnizo (Guayaquil, 1890 – 1946) was an Ecuadorian poet, writer, playwright, literary critic and journalist. In 1913 he began publishing literary articles in the magazine El Telégrafo Literario under the pseudonym Lohengrim, and in 1914 in the newspaper El Cascabel under the pseudonym Antonio de Tarfes. In 1915 he began publishing poems in the magazine El Guante. That same year he wrote his poems, “Rotativa” and “Jesús,” which he donated to the Children’s Protection Society, which published them on their own account with a prologue by Nicolás Augusto González. In 1916 he founded the magazine Helios which he directed until its last issue in 1918. In 1917 he published his play Justicia, which Ricardo Descalzi described as one of Ecuador’s first works of social theater. A second edition of the play was published in 1939, the proceeds of which he donated to the Freemasons of Guayaquil. He had been a Freemason since 1919. His brother Miguel Ángel Granado Guarnizo was also a poet.

George Reyes

George Reyes (Los Ríos, Ecuador, 1960) is an Ecuadorian poet, essayist, editor, theology professor, and pastor. He has been a permanent resident of Mexico for many years. He has a bachelor’s degree in theology, two master’s degrees in theology, and is a PhD candidate in theology. He is the author of two books on Biblical hermeneutics and co-author of two books on theology. He’s also the author of two poetry collections, “El azul de la tarde” (2015) and “Ese otro exilio, esa otra patria” (2016). He is listed in Mexico’s Encyclopedia of Literature.

Ricardo de la Fuente

Ricardo de la Fuente (Llanura, Argentina) was an Argentinian writer, journalist and professor who immigrated to Ecuador in 1976 and lived in the coastal city of Manta since 1985. He pursued humanities and journalism studies at the University of La Plata. Later, he worked for radio stations and publications up until 1976, when the military dictatorship in Argentina imprisoned him without actually ever bringing any charges against him. He relocated to Ecuador after being set free, where he established a family and worked as a journalist. He contributed to the Diario Manabita and El Sol newspapers in Ecuador. He received the “la Pluma de Oro” medal from the “Jorge Mantilla Ortega” national journalism competition in 1997. He wrote about a dozen nonfiction books and a novel entitled “Tagua. Una Historia de Ultramar.” He taught at the Faculty of Communication Sciences at the University of Manta.

María Auxiliadora Balladares

María Auxiliadora Balladares Uquillas (Guayaquil, 1980) is an Ecuadorian writer, poet, and professor at Universidad San Francisco de Quito. She holds a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature from the University of Pittsburgh and has published widely in poetry, short stories, and essays. Her short story Jamón serrano won second place in the 10th Pablo Palacio Short Story Biennial, and her major works include Las vergüenzas (2013), Animal (2017), Guayaquil (2019), and Acantile duerme piloto (2022), which earned her the 2023 Jorge Carrera Andrade Award. Her writing often explores themes of identity, LGBTQI+ issues, and the natural world.

Augusto Rodríguez

Augusto Rodríguez (Guayaquil, 1979) is an Ecuadorian poet, journalist, editor of El Quirófano Ediciones, university professor in Guayaquil and director of the Ileana Espinel Cedeño International Poetry Festival. He is the author of 20 books of poetry, short stories, novels, interviews and essays in prestigious publishing houses in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Peru and Ecuador. His work has won numerous awards and is featured in various anthologies. He is one of the founders of the cultural group Buseta de Papel. He has participated in several literary events inside and outside of Ecuador. Part of his poetic work has been translated into twelve languages: English, Arabic, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian, Italian, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Serbian and Medumba.

Ana Cecilia Blum

Ana Cecilia Blum (Guayaquil, March 17, 1972) is an Ecuadorian poet, essayist, fiction writer, editor, translator and journalist. She studied political and social sciences at the Vicente Rocafuerte Secular University in Guayaquil. She earned a postgraduate degree in “Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language” from Colorado State University (U.S.). She is the founder and editor-in-chief of the digital magazine Metaforología which publishes poetry, fiction and essays. She currently lives between Ecuador and the United States. Some of her work has been translated into English, French, Italian and Portuguese.

Zaida Letty Castillo

Zaida Letty Castillo de Saavedra (Guayaquil, February 5, 1890 – Guayaquil, July 30, 1977) was an Ecuadorian poet. She hailed from a family of journalists and writers. She wrote under the pseudonym Djenana, which she adopted from a character in “Les Désenchantées,” a French novel by Pierre Loti. She published her works in “El Telegrafo Literario,” a literary supplement of the newspaper El Telégrafo, owned by her family. She also directed the supplement “La mujer y el Arte” of the Peruvian newspaper “El Comercio,” as well as other publications in Ecuador and Venezuela. She was a founder of the Guayas branch of the House of Ecuadorian Culture and her poetry appears in several anthologies of Latin American poetry.

Natalí Romero Torres

Natalí Romero Torres (Manta) is a doctor, clinical sexologist, poet, and writer. She is the author of the poetry collection “El amor en tacones” (2018). Alexis Cuzme, director of the publishing house Tinta Ácida, commented that “El amor en tacones” was written for women. The book’s themes include sensuality, love, heartbreak, disappointment, and emotional support.

Mario Campaña

Mario Campaña Avilés (Guayaquil, 1959) is an Ecuadorian poet, biographer, essayist and anthologist of poetry. He founded and directed the Latin American cultural magazine Guaraguao in Barcelona for 22 years, until 2018. In 2018 he published, “Poesía Reunida 1988-2018,” a compilation of all his published poems up to that time. He has also authored literary biographies on Francisco de Quevedo and Baudelaire. He has lived in Barcelona, Spain since 1992.