CENTRAL AMERICAN LITERATURE

Central American literature is above all

a marginal literature, which has not
been adapted to European canons,
which means that it is not well known in
many parts of the world, especially in
the old continent.

However, Central American literature

has always known how to gain space,
albeit few, within the artistic world.

Below is a broad outline of what could

be considered the essence of Central American literature.

Yesterday's Central America

Central America has little to envy other regions of the world in terms of literature.
The Guatemalan Miguel í•ngel Asturias won the Nobel Prize in this area, even
before a Mexican; This prize has not been awarded to an author, for example, from
Argentina, where the literary production known throughout the world is more
abundant.

But not only that fact should be highlighted. We must remember that Central
America has contributed to the world of the fundamental texts of pre-Columbian
literature. The Pop Wu, the Rabinal Achí and the Gí¼egí¼ense or The Male Mouse
(originally from Nicaragua), are examples of the invention of pre-Hispanic cultures.

In colonial times, Bernal Díaz del Castillo dared to contradict the official chroniclers,
and wrote The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, leaving a slightly more
faithful testimony and with amenable writing.

Already at the beginning of the 19th century, when Central America used to be
considered as a single administrative unit, Salvadoran and Honduran writers were
confused with Guatemalan writers, without daring to make that separation now.
Such is the case of José Cecilio del Valle, Pedro Molina, Pepita García Granados,
José Antonio de Irisarri and José Batres Montúfar, among others.

The modern novel entered the region through José Milla, who still continues to
delight hundreds of adolescents in Central America who read his books in the
educational system.

However, it is with the revolution that represented the emergence into the letters of
the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío, which represents the great leap from Central
American literature to Europe.
Darío, often rejected in the old continent due to his very condition as a Central
American, managed to give a renewal to literature in Spanish, since both in Spain
and in South America, writers benefited from the aesthetics of the Nicaraguan.

Along the same lines, Enrique Gómez Carrillo emerges, a figure so cosmopolitan
that even France and Argentina claimed the right to bury his remains on their lands,
finally remaining in the first country.

Gómez Carrillo continued in the same aesthetic line of modernism as Rubén Darío,
and continued European literary trends, so much so that it was the first of the Latin
American “literary myths” in Paris, which were later continued by others, such as
Cardoza y Aragón and Julio Cortazar.

Another who began with modernism is the Guatemalan Rafael Arévalo Martínez,
but who became recognized for his contribution to narrative, with the introduction of
human characters with animal psychology, known as psychozoomorphism.

The Guatemalans Miguel Ángel Asturias and Luis Cardoza y Aragón were others
who dazzled Europe by making surrealism their own, and giving it Hispanic
American overtones.

On the other hand, in Nicaragua, José Coronel Urtrecho and Pablo Antonio
Cuadra, started the only organized avant-garde movement in Central America.

After the avant-garde fell into disuse, it was another Nicaraguan, Ernesto Cardenal,
who led the banner of the post-avant-garde, along with poets such as the Chilean
Nicanor Parra.

Finally, in retrospect, the Guatemalan Augusto Monterroso should not be left aside,
who is considered one of the world masters of short fiction, having among his
publications the shortest story in literary history.

Central America, today

Although it has a great past, current Central American letters have had little
international projection.

One of the reasons that could have influenced this aspect is the period of conflict in
the isthmus, determined by the internal wars in Guatemala, El Salvador and
Nicaragua, the repression in Honduras and the conflicts in Panama over the
interoceanic canal.

In recent years, after having around ten years of relative calm in the region, Central
American writers once again have a leading role in European publishers.

Although this space does not allow a more detailed description of current literature,
it presents, roughly speaking, the main authors and trends in current Central
American literature.
Basically, this vision could be determined according to the theme they follow, which
is divided into: the theme of women, that of war and peace processes, and the
construction of the Central American imaginary.

REPRESENTATIVES OF GUATEMALAN LITERATURE:

JOSE MILLA AND VIDAURRE

José Milla y Vidaurre (Guatemala City, August 4 , 1822 - idem, September 30 ,

1882) was a Guatemalan writer of the 19TH CENTURY, considered one of the founders
of the novel in the literature of his native country; In particular, he stood out in the
historical narrative. He was also Minister of Foreign Affairs and ambassador of
Guatemala to the United States during the government of General Rafael Carrera
(1851-1865), being one of the signatories in 1859 of the decree in which Belize was
ceded to Great Britain to exploit timber, change of the construction of a
communication route between the capital of Belize and that of Guatemala (a road
that England never built). He was among the group of journalists who founded the
Diario de Centro América in 1880.

ENRIQUE GOMEZ CARRILLO

Enrique Gómez Tible, better known as Enrique Gómez Carrillo (city of

Guatemala, February 27 , 1873 - Paris, November 29 , 1927) , was a Guatemalan
literary critic, writer, journalist and diplomat. He wrote around 80 books, of varied
genres, although his international chronicles stand out mainly, in which he used
truly modernist prose and was called the "Prince of Chroniclers." He was a
promoter of the government of Mr. Manuel Estrada Cabrera as consul in Madrid,
London, Hamburg and Paris and is also famous for his bohemian and traveling life
and for his marriages with the writers and artists Aurora Cáceres (1905-1906),
Raquel Meller (1919 -1920) and Consuelo Suncín (1926-1927).
RAFAEL AREVALO MARTINEZ

Rafael Arévalo Martínez (Guatemala City, 1884 - ibidem, 1975) , was a

Guatemalan poet, writer, essayist and playwright, considered one of the
predecessors of magical realism . 2 He is one of the most recognized Guatemalan
writers of the "generation of 10."

CESAR ANTONIO BRAÑAS

César Brañas (Antigua Guatemala, December 13 , 1899 - City of

Guatemala, February 22 , 1976) was a Guatemalan journalist, essayist, literary
critic and poet. As a journalist, he collaborated for years in the newspaper El
Imparcial where he was in charge of the culture section and wrote a column to
share his opinions on literary and artistic issues . 1 He died after suffering serious
injuries during the 1976 earthquake, which partially destroyed Guatemala and he
inherited his library and residence to the University of San Carlos of Guatemala . 2

MIGUEL ANGEL ASTURIAS

Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales (Guatemala City, October 19, 1899 - Madrid, June 9
, 1974) was a Guatemalan writer, journalist and diplomat who contributed to the
development of Latin American literature, influenced Western culture and, at the
same time , drew attention to the importance of indigenous cultures, especially
those of his native country, Guatemala.

Although Asturias was born and raised in Guatemala, he lived a significant part of
his adult life abroad . 1 During his first stay in Paris, in the 1920s, he studied
anthropology and indigenous mythology . 2 Some scientists consider him the first
Latin American novelist to show how the study of anthropology and linguistics could
influence literature . 3 4 In Paris, Asturias was also associated with the surrealist
movement. He is credited with introducing many characteristics of the modernist
style into Latin American letters . 5 As such, it was an important precursor to the
Latin American boom of the 1960s and 1970s . 6

In Mr. President, one of his most famous novels, Asturias describes life under the
ruthless dictatorship of Manuel Estrada Cabrera, who ruled Guatemala between
1898 and 1920. His public opposition to tyranny led him to exile, so he had to
spend much of his life abroad, especially in South America and Europe. The novel
Men of Corn, sometimes described as his masterpiece, is a defense of Mayan
culture. Asturias synthesizes his extensive knowledge of Mayan beliefs with his
political convictions to channel both into a life of commitment and solidarity . 7 His
work is often identified with the social and moral aspirations of the Guatemalan
population.

MARIO MONTEFORTE TOLEDO

Mario Monteforte Toledo (Guatemala City, September 15 , 1911 - Ib., September
4 , 2003) was a Guatemalan writer, sociologist and politician. He graduated as a
lawyer in 1938 from the University of San Carlos in Guatemala and as a sociologist
in 1939 from the Sorbonne University. A prominent militant of the Unified Party of
the Revolution, he was elected deputy after the overthrow, in 1944, of the president
and dictator Jorge Ubico Castañeda.
MARGARITA CARRERA

Margarita Carrera Molina (Guatemala City, Guatemala, September 16 , 1929) is a

Guatemalan writer. Throughout her career, the writer has managed to develop
various genres, including poetry and essays. He has published 2 novels, 13 books
of essays and 11 of poetry. She is currently a full academician of the Guatemalan
Academy of Language, which corresponds to the Royal Spanish Academy.

HUMBERTO AKABAL

Humberto Ak'abal was born in Momostenango, Guatemala in 1952. Guatemalan

poet of the Mayan K'iche ethnic group. He thinks and writes his poems in the K'iché
language and self-translates into Spanish. Currently he is one of the best-known
Guatemalan poets in Europe and South America. His works have been translated
into French, English, German, Italian, Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic, Scottish,
Hungarian and Estonian.
His poems have been published in newspapers and magazines in Guatemala,
Central America, Mexico, the United States, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Lebanon,
Japan, Spain , France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Holland and Italy.

AUGUSTO MONTERROSO
Augusto Monterroso (Tegucigalpa, December 21 , 1921 – Mexico City, February 7,
2003) , was a Honduran writer who adopted Guatemalan nationality, known for his
short stories .

Narrator and essayist, he began publishing his texts in 1959, the year in which the
first edition of Complete Works (and Other Stories) was published, a set of incisive
narratives where the fundamental features of his narrative begin to be noticed:
concise prose, brief, apparently simple that is nevertheless full of cultured
references, as well as a masterful use of parody, caricature, and black humor.

Tito, as his loved ones called him, the great writer of short stories and fables , died
of cardiac arrest on February 7, 2003. He was married to the writer of Lebanese
origin Bárbara Jacobs.

OTTO RAUL GONZALEZ

Otto-Raúl González Coronado (Guatemala, January 1 , 1921 - City of

Mexico, June 23 , 2007, Guatemalan -Mexican poet and writer . He published more
than 60 books. (Forty-one poetry, sixteen essays, four novels and six short stories.)

González was a student leader against the dictatorship of Jorge Ubico y

Castañeda, which is why around 1944 he had to flee Guatemala to take refuge in
Mexico.

Before that he had participated as a member of the Acento Group and served as
director of its magazine. With Voz y Voto del Geranio (1943) , a short collection of
poems in which he exalts the strong libertarian vocation of his people, he stands as
the most notable poetic voice of his generation, which would later be known as the
Generation of 40.

MANUEL JOSE LEONARDO ARCE LEAL

Manuel José Leonardo Arce Leal (1935 - 1985), born in the City of
Guatemala in 1935, he was a poet and playwright. He is considered one of the
most relevant writers in the country of the second half of the 20th century. He was
awarded important Central American awards and his work has been translated into
several languages.

In the 1980s he had to leave Guatemala due to constant threats from the Romeo
Lucas García regime. While in France, the worst massacres occurred in their
homeland under the governments of Lucas García and Efraín Ríos Montt. As a
protest against them, he wrote some harsh poems against Efraín Ríos Montt, which
were censored. He died of lung cancer in exile in France, on September 22, 1985.

ANA MARIA RODAS

Ana María Rodas (Guatemala City, September 12, 1937 Poet,

Guatemalan narrator, journalist and literary critic . Prominent figure of the Central
American literary scene) .

Ana María Rodas, was born in Guatemala, Guatemala, on September 12, 1937. He
has published Poems of the Erotic Left, 1973; Four corners of the doll's game
(poetry), 1975; The end of myths and dreams (poetry), 1984; Mariana's insurrection
(poetry), 1993; Mariana in the tigrera, (narrative) 1993; Ixöqrusamajel ajaw (The
Nun), Economic Culture Fund, (narrative), 2001; Life as it is, Texts for Modern and
Folkloric Ballet, for the work of the same name, 1983; La Vie, textes pour le Ballet
Moderno y Folklorico de Guatemala, Toulousse, 1984; Efraín Recinos and his work,
Interview, (journalism) 1991; Francisco Nájera talks with Ana María Rodas.
Interview (journalism) 2000; Be a chapín man. Essay on the work of the
photographer Daniel Chauche, 2004; Narrative by Ana María Rodas. Book in Audio
Cassette, Ministry of Culture, Guatemala, 1995: Poetry by Ana María Rodas. Book
in Audio Cassette, Ministry of Culture, Guatemala, 1995: Eva at fifty-two years old,
Poetry, Plaquette of the Caravelle Cultural Magazine, Paris 1988; VERSschmuggel:
spanische und deutschprachige gedichte = Smuggling of verses: poems in Spanish
and German, translation by Armando Romero; Aurélie Maurin; Thomas Wohlfahrt;
et al Sponsored by the Cervantes Institute and the Goethe Institut. Publishers:
Heidelbreg Wunderhorn; Madrid Huerga and Fierro cop. 2006

This book was published by the Cervantes Institute and the Goethe-Institut in 2005
in commemoration of the appearance of Don Quixote de la Mancha. It was written
and translated by 12 Germanic-speaking poets and 12 Spanish-speaking poets,
chosen by the aforementioned institutes from among the living poets who wrote in
those languages.

Her presentation reads like this: Ana María Rodas (b.1937 Guatemala City,
Guatemala), poet, narrator and essayist, is considered one of the great Latin
American figures of women's literature. In his poetry, sensual or acrid, but enduring,
he denounces the hypocrisy of oppression. With his collection of poems “Poems of
the Erotic Left” he scandalized the prudish and conventional society and brought
the question of freedom to the most intimate human level.

His books have been translated into German, English, and Italian.

DANTE LIANO

Dante José Liano Quezada (Chimaltenango, 1948) is a Guatemalan writer and

literary critic , winner of the 1991 National Literature Prize and finalist for the
Herralde Novel Prize in 1987 and 2002.

Graduated in Letters from the University of San Carlos in 1973, he graduated in

Literature from the University of Florence (Italy) four years later. The political
situation in Guatemala, which experienced the peak of repression in those years,
forced him to remain in Italy since 1980. He taught Spanish Language at the
University of Bologna, Spanish Language and Literature at the Universities of Feltre
and Brescia, Spanish American Literature at the University of Milan and currently
resides in Milan, where he is a professor of Spanish Literature and Hispanic
American Literature at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore . Frequently visits
your country of origin.
REPRESENTATIVES OF SALVADORAN LITERATURE

CLAUDIA LARS

Carmen Brannon Vega (real name), was born in Armenia, Sonsonate, El Salvador,
on December 20, 1989. She is the Salvadoran writer who has achieved greater
national recognition for her high quality and refined lyricism. He published in
Repertorio Americano, directed in those years by the Costa Rican writer Joaquín
García Monge, and in Zig-zag, from Chile. Published work: Stars in the well, 1934;
Round song, 1937; The Glass House, 1942; Romances of North and South, 1946;
Sonnets, 1947; City under my voice, 1947; Where the steps arrive, 1953; Bird
School, 1955; Fable of a truth, 1959; Childhood Land, 1958; Songs, 1960;
Sunflower; Presence in time, 1962; About the angel and the man, 1963; From the
fine dawn, 1966.

HUGO LINDO
Hugo Lindo was born in La Unión in 1917 and died in San Salvador in 1985. He
was a diplomat, lawyer, short story writer, novelist and poet. He held the position of
director of the Editorial Department of the Ministry of Education and then Minister of
Education. Other books by the author are: Desmesura (poetry, 1992); Various
poetry, with a prologue by the Colombian poet Rafael Maya (Poetic Anthology,
1960); Easy word (poetry, 1985); Recount (literary and historical annotations of
Central America, 1969); Only the voice (poetry, 1968); Here my land (poetry, 1989);
Fertile blood of Hispania (poetry, 1972); Ways of raining (poetry, 1982) and
Vivaldi's Resonance (poetry).
MIGUEL ANGEL ESPINO
Miguel Ángel Espino was a Salvadoran writer, journalist and lawyer (Santa Ana,
December 17, 1902 - Mexico City, October 1, 1967).

He dedicated himself to narrative since his youth. At the age of 17 he published

Mythology of Cuscatlán, a compilation of ancient indigenous legends. He also
published a collection of stories titled Como Cantan Allá (1926). He also published
two novels: Trains (1940) and Men Against Death (1947), his most recognized
work, set in Belize; both were translated into English and French. The Government
of El Salvador awarded him a literary prize in 1948 for his work Men Against Death.

ALFREDO ESPINO
Alfredo Espino was a Salvadoran poet. He was born in the Department of
Ahuachapán, western area of El Salvador, in the year 1900. Son of Enriqueta
Najarro, a teacher by vocation, and Alfonso Espino, a poet, he grew up in a home
that breathed poetry and love of art. His brother Miguel Ángel Espino also grew up
to become an artist of the pen but in the branch of prose.

His only book is Jícaras Tristes, a compilation of 96 poems, published

posthumously thanks to several friends and under the approval of Alberto
Masferrer, it is one of the most published books in his country; Its author is one of
the most read and commented on, but his expression has not been studied or
analyzed.
Roque Dalton

Roque Dalton García (San Salvador, May 14, 1935 - May 10, 1975) was a
revolutionary poet and politician from El Salvador. He belonged to the University
Literary Circle (1956), along with Manlio Argueta, Roberto Armijo, José Roberto
Cea, Álvaro Menéndez Leal and Tirso Canales. Dalton is considered one of the
most influential of the Generation Engaged.
Works: The window on the face (1962), The turn of the offended (Mexico, 1964),
Miguel Mármol (Costa Rica, 1972?), Poor poet that I was... (Costa Rica, 1975),
Monograph on El Salvador (Havana, ?), Taberna and other places (Casa de las
Américas Prize 1969), Clandestine Poems (El Salvador, 1975), Forbidden Stories
of the Little Thumb (Mexico, 1975), A Red Book for Lenin (posthumous; Managua,
198 ?).

REPRESENTATIVES OF HONDUREAN LITERATURE

BARRERA, CLAUDIO (1912-1917).

Pseudonym of Vicente Alemán h. In 1949 he founded the literary magazine Surco;
He was also responsible for the literary page of the defunct newspaper El Cronista.
For some scholars of our literature, he is the greatest representative of the
Generation of '35. In 1954 he was awarded the “Ramón Rosa” National Literature
Prize. He died in Madrid, Spain. Published works: The Infinite Question (1939),
Brotes Hondos (1942), Democratic Songs to General Morazán (1944), Dates of
Blood (1946), The Liturgy of Dreams (1949), Recount of the Image (1951). ); The
ballet of the guaras (1952); The Star and the Cross (1953); Complete Poetry
(1956); The Harvest (1957); The Girl from Fuenterrosa (Theater, 1952). And the
anthologies: Antalogy of young poets from Honduras, since 1935 (1950); Black
poetry from Honduras (1960); Messages of love to mothers (in collaboration with
Julio Rodríguez Ayestas, 1963).
CÁRCAMO, JACOBO (1916-1959).
Poet and journalist. He was a contributor to the newspaper El Cronista and to the
magazines Tegucigalpa and ANC (National Association of Chroniclers). In Mexico,
the country where he lived until the day of his death, he collaborated with the
newspapers Nacional and El Popular. He was one of the most prominent poets of
the so-called Generation of '35. In 1955 he was awarded the “Ramón Rosa”
National Literature Prize.
Published Work: Flores del alma (1935); Blue Embers (1938); Laurel of Anahuac;
Pine and Blood (1955); Continental Prelude (Posthumous Anthology, 1977);
Anthology (Posthumous edition, 1982).

COELLO, AUGUSTO C. (1884-1941). Poet and journalist. He studied law and, in

1904, he was elected deputy to the National Constituent Assembly. He held the
positions of Secretary of the Presidency and Minister of Foreign Affairs. For political
reasons he moved to Costa Rica, where he worked as a journalist in La República,
Prensa Libre, El Pabellón Rojo and La Opinión. In Honduras he collaborated in the
newspapers La Regeneración, El Imparcial, Pro Patria and Marcha. He is the
author of the lyrics of the National Anthem of Honduras.
WORK: Poetry: Song to the Flag (1934); A sonnet tells me to do violante (1941);
Sonnets (Posthumous edition, 1944). Proses (1943).
DOMÍNGUEZ, JOSÉ ANTONIO (1864-1903).
Poet. He studied Teaching and Law. He was Undersecretary of State in the offices
of Public Instruction and Justice. He is, without a doubt, the greatest exponent of
national romanticism. He belonged, along with Froylán Turcios and Juan Ramón
Molina, to the Literary Society “La Juventud Hondureña”. Like the other important
romantic poet, Molina Vigil, he committed suicide. He was a poet of deep social,
political and philosophical concerns. In his extensive poem “Hymn to Matter” he
expresses his vision of the world and life. His work has also been compiled by
various authors and scholars of national literature agree in pointing him out as the
most notable of the Honduran romantic poets.

FONTANA, JAIME
(Víctor Eugenio Castañeda) was born on April 13, 1922 in Tutule, La Paz and died
in Tegucigalpa in 1972.
In 1943 he won First Prize in the Morazánico Scientific Contest with his essay book
"Quasi-Social Contract" and in 1947 he won First Prize in the Poetry Contest
promoted by the University of Honduras on the occasion of its Centennial. In 1951
in Argentina he was awarded the Honor Prize of the Argentine Society of Writers for
his book "Color Naval" and in 1962 he obtained the "Asteriscos" Prize from Junín,
Argentina. Returning to his homeland in 1964, he won the Rotary Grand Prize. He
was President of the PEN Club International, Honduras Section. He practiced
diplomacy in Argentina and Mexico; Ecuador and before UNESCO, in Paris.
Published books: "Color Naval" in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1951.

GUILLÉN ZELAYA, ALFONSO (1888-1947).

Poet and journalist. He studied Law at the Central University of Honduras, today
UNAH. His poetic work is less known than his journalistic writings and his essays.
He was director of the capital newspapers El Cronista and El Pueblo. In Juticalpa,
Olancho, where he was originally from, he directed the Tacoma in 1911. In 1933,
when Tiburcio Carías Andino assumed the presidency of the Republic, he left for
Mexico, where he collaborated with El Popular and Futuro. He also lived in New
York, holding a diplomatic position; There he directed the magazine Pan América
Poetry. He died in Mexico.
WORK: The Fifth Silence (Posthumous work that appeared in Ariel magazine in
1972 and was compiled by Medardo Mejía. In 1993, the UNAH Publishing House
would publish it again; Eternal Longing (Posthumous Edition, 1960);
Consciousness of an era (collection of essays, 1996).

LAÍNEZ, DANIEL (1910-1959).

Poet and storyteller of manners. He also ventured into dramaturgy. He was an
outstanding member of the so-called Generation of '35. He collaborated with the
magazines Surco and Tegucigalpa. In 1956 he was awarded the “Ramón Rosa”
National Literature Prize. A characteristic of his work is the incorporation of
Honduran speech with its particular regional idioms, especially in his stories and
local prints. He published “Intimate Voices” (1935), “Bohemian Crystals” (1937), “At
the Feet of Aphrodite” (1939), “Bird Islands” (1940), “Rhymes of Smoke and Wind”
(1945), “ Red Masses” (1946), “Various Poetry” (1946), “Poetic Anthology” (1959),
“Regional Poems” (1955), “In the Heat of the Stove” (1955), “Poemary (1956),
“Paths of sun” (1956), “Poems for children” (Posthumous edition, 1972). In theater
he released “Timoteo has fun” (1946) and “A man of influence” (1956). He also
published “Local Prints” (1946); Manicomio (edited by UNAH in 1980), a text of
supposed literary criticism, which rather seems like personal diatribes. At the fiction
level, he published the story: “El grencho” (1946) and a short novel: “La gloria”
(1946).

MEJIA, MEDARDO (1907-1981).

Lawyer by profession. He cultivated drama, poetry, history, narrative and also
practiced journalism and was a great cultural entertainer like Froilán Turcios, and,
on the other hand, a notable polygrapher like Rafael Heliodoro Valle, In 1930, with
his book Cuentos del Camino , won the short story prize organized by the Ministry
of Public Instruction. In 1964, he restarted the second stage of the magazine Ariel,
which Froylán Turcios and Arturo Martínez Galindo began editing in 1925. In this
second stage, the magazine stopped publishing in 1976. In 1971 he was awarded
the “Ramón Rosa” National Literature Prize. He was a prominent member of the
Honduran Academy of Language and a respected intellectual among the worker,
peasant and professional sectors of the country. Among his works it is worth
mentioning Anathe (1975), El fuego Nuevo (1976), Cuentos del Camino (1930), Los
tithes de Olancho (La horcancina, Cinchonero y Medinón, 1976); Los chapetones
(1977) and Comizahualt (1980). He also composed an extensive work on the
history of Honduras that was published by the UNAH in five volumes; It stands out,
both for Medardo Mejía's interpretation of national life and for the abundance of
documents it includes.

MOLINA VIGIL, MANUEL (1853-1883). Poet. He studied medicine in Guatemala,

completing them in 1877. Upon his return to Honduras, in 1880, he practiced his
profession privately and as a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Central
University. His time as a writer coincided with the time of the Liberal Reform, due to
the above, his name is included in the second generation of Honduran poets or
Generation of Joaquín Palma. He committed suicide at the age of 30.
His work has been compiled by several anthologists; The first of them was Rómulo
E. Durón, who includes it in “Honduras Literaria” (1899).

MURILLO SOTO, CÉLEO (1912-1966).

Poet, journalist and diplomat. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Legal and
Social Sciences in 1940 at the then Central University of Honduras (today UNAH).
In 1956 he served as Honduran consul in New Orleans. For several periods he was
president of the APH and during one of his administrations the Journalist's House
was built. He collaborated with the newspapers La Época, Prenda Libre, El
nacional, El Día, and with the weeklies La Nación, Nuestro Criterio and Avance.
The municipality of Tegucigalpa established an annual journalism award that bears
his name. He published: Afán (1939) and in the posthumous edition “Elegía de una
canción” (1966).

REPRESENTATIVES OF NICARAGUAN LITERATURE

FRANCISCO PEREZ ESTRADA
He was born in Trigueros, Ometepe Island on May 19, 1917. He studied in
Granada, graduating from the Instituto Nacional de Oriente at the age of 15. He
became an essayist, poet, anthropologist and folklore researcher. In the early
forties he joined the Brotherhood of Catholic Writers and Artists of the Taller San
Lucas, in Granada. With his compilation of folkloric theatrical pieces from
Nicaragua, he obtained the Prize from the National Commission of Culture in
Argentina in 1948. Among his vast bibliographical work we can mention Chinazte
(1961, 1968 and 1975); in essay, Four Folklore Studies (1954), The
Indigenous Communities of Nicaragua (1956), The Nahuas of Nicaragua (1960),
José Dolores Estrada, National Hero of Nicaragua (1976), among others.

JESUS MIGUEL BLANDON

He was born on December 13, 1940, in San Rafael del Norte, Jinotega, where he
completed his first studies, graduating from high school in Matagalpa, at the Eliseo
Picado Institute. In 1959 he entered the Faculty of Legal Sciences of the University
of Leon, where he interacted with characters as dissimilar as Carlos Fonseca
Amador, Francisco Rosales Arguello, Arnoldo Aleman and Julio y Briceño, and
shared classrooms with the writers Sergio Ramirez Mercado, Octavio Robleto and
Alejandro Serrano Caldera. Between Sandino and Fonseca (1979), a book of
historical essays on the armed struggle in our country, constituted a fundamental
link for the composition of the present novel, The Night of the Rings. In 1989,
Blandon published Cuartel General, a text that describes the love affairs of General
Sandino with the beautiful telegrapher Blanca Arauz and has San Rafael del Norte
as its geographical setting. Chuno is also a singer-songwriter and has recorded
numerous compositions.
YOLANDA BLANCO

He was born in Managua, Nicaragua. She is a poet, singer-songwriter, translator

and cultural promoter. She belongs to the group of writers who burst onto the
Nicaraguan poetic scene in the seventies. He studied at the National Autonomous
University of Nicaragua in León for about two years in the early seventies. Then he
travels to different countries, including France and Venezuela. At the University of
Tours, France he studies art history and literature and at the Central University of
Venezuela he obtains a bachelor's degree in humanities.

Yolanda Blanco has been writing poems from a very early age; His fifteen-year-old
gift was the publication of his first collection of poems. His poetry, of great thematic
and stylistic variety, captures the signs of the times with an almost prophetic rigor.

Martha Cecilia Ruiz

Graduate in Journalism from the Central American University (UCA). With
experience as a writer, editor and presenter in the media (Radio, Printed Press and
TV), active on social networks, she has also experimented with drawing and is an
active blogger.

Member of the Board of Directors of the Nicaraguan Association of Women Writers

(ANIDE) and founder of the poetic group Three times three and the Forum of
Cultural Journalists of Nicaragua. Poet and storyteller, much of her work questions
gender violence and social mandates regarding female sexuality. She has been
invited to recitals, workshops, festivals and short story and poetry anthologies in
Mexico and Nicaragua.
ARIEL MONTOYA

Nicaraguan poet. He was born in Esquipulas, Matagalpa, in 1964. Poet, editor and
journalist. Founding Director of the Cetroamericana de las Culturas Magazine,
Decenio, and the publishing house of the same name, and President of the Ibero-
American Foundation of Cultures (FIBRAS). Author of the collection of poems
"Silueta en Fuga" (Guatemala, 1989). He belongs to the turbulent generation of the
80s, and also to the so-called "Mollina Generation", which brings together young
creators from the Ibero-American region, who emerged in the 90s. The profile of the
Hoguera was worthy of an honorable mention in the "Rubén Darío 1999" National
Poetry Prize, organized by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of

Nicaragua.
ARQUIMIDES GONZALEZ TORRES

He was born in Managua (Nicaragua) on March 4, 1972. Nicaraguan journalist and

writer. In the beginning he worked in various news media in the country covering
different areas, covering both national and international. He is editor of the Hoy
newspaper in Managua, Nicaragua.

Relevant Nicaraguan writer whose work is considered the successor of Nicaraguan

writers and novelists such as Sergio Ramirez Mercado Mercado and Lisandro
Chávez Alfaro. He has obtained several international awards and recognitions for
his professional and literary work. González continued to publish short stories and
literary analyzes in different magazines and after five years her second novel was
released, Qué sola estar Maité, whose plot is based on the emigration of a
Nicaraguan woman to Costa Rica after the catastrophe of Hurricane Mitch.

In 2007, he was awarded second mention at the Rogelio Sinán Central American
Short Story Prize in Panama for his book of short stories Driving the Wild
Mercedes.
REPRESENTATIVES OF COSTA RICAN LITERATURE

Fabian Doubles
(Costa Rica, 1918-1997)

Costa Rican writer in whose novels he denounces the injustices and privileges that
occur in his country's society. He was born in Atenas (Costa Rica) and studied Law,
although he never practiced law. Around the 1940s, Costa Rica experienced a
major social change; Popular movements demanded agrarian reform while the
coffee industry gave way to the banana industry, resulting in large migrations from
the countryside to port cities. In this environment, a group of writers emerged,
known as the generation of 40, among whom were Joaquín Gutiérrez, Carlos Luis
Fallas, Yolanda Oreamuno and Fabián Dobles himself, who wrote social novels.
Dobles' political commitment made him observe reality from Marxist perspectives,
and thus novels such as That They Call People (1942) emerged, about the
hardships of a young peasant; A bubble in Limbo (1946), his most valued work; The
site of the abras (1950), on its most recurring theme: the dispossession of the
peasants' lands; The living logs (1962) tells of the political repression that followed
the civil war of 1948 in Costa Rica; In San Juan there is a shark (1967) is about the
fight against Somoza in Nicaragua. In his stories, the theme is the same, and
among them we can highlight: You, voice of shadow (1942), Truth of water and
wind (1949), Yerbamar (1949). He has also published collections of stories, such as
Historias de Tata Mundo (1955), El targuá (1960), El violin y la junk (1966) and
Cuentos de Fabián Dobles (1972).

Jorge DeBravo (Costa Rica, 1938-1967)

Costa Rican poet born in Guayabo de Turrialba, Cartago. It is said that his mother
taught him to write letters and his name on banana leaves. In 1959, together with
Laureano Albán and Marcos Aguilar, he founded the Círculo de Poetas
Turrialbeños. A great reader of Whitman, Neruda, Vallejo, Darío and Bécquer, he
had a short but prolific work that represents a living open miracle in Costa Rican
poetry. He left in the history of Costa Rica an endearing image of a poet and an
exceptional man who knew how to capture a deep human and social message. His
work has great meaning and today his poetry is widely disseminated in other
countries, since the theme that he developed, deepened and captured in his verses
is universal in nature and will always be valid, because man, love, pain and Human
solidarity are the essence and vital center of his literary production. Jorge DeBravo
died in San José in 1967, while riding his motorcycle when he was hit by a drunk
driver.

Joaquín García Monge Costa Rica, 1881-1958)

Costa Rican writer born in Desamparados, San José. He studied at the Liceo de
Costa Rica, being a professor, director of the National Library (1920) for 16 years
and of the Normal School, a prestigious institution today dependent on the National
University of Costa Rica. Considered the creator of the Costa Rican realist novel,
his great work, the international magazine Repertorio Americano (1919-1958),
spread and read throughout the Spanish-speaking world, and published for almost
four decades, became the cradle of ideas and concerns of the entire Latin
American intellectual world of the time. He is the author of the novels, Daughters of
the Countryside (1900), El Moto (1900), Abnegación (1902) and The Bad Shadow
(1917). He died in San José on October 31, 1958.

Max Jimenez
(Costa Rica, 1900-1947)

Costa Rican poet, novelist, painter and sculptor born in San José. He is the first
writer in this country to initiate a conscious effort to incorporate avant-garde
procedures into national literature as a critical response to the crises and
transformations of his time. A complex, multifaceted and solitary figure, a member
of a generation marked by the disenchantment between the wars and the crisis of
1929, his literature combines elements of romanticism, modernism and avant-garde
experimentation. In his three narrative works, he expresses the lyrical-existential
lament in the absence of plenitude and meaning in a world given over to corruption,
absurdity and death. Thus in Unos Fantoches (1929), he develops a love triangle;
in El domador de Pulgas (1936), the vain efforts of a tamer to redeem the world of
his trained fleas and in El Jaul (1937), he narrates life in San Luis de los Jaules. He
is also the author of the poetry books, Quijongo (1933), Revenar (1936), Poesías
(1936) and Sonaja (1936); in addition to the book Essays (1926). The most
outstanding characteristic of Max Jiménez is the sensation of disintegration and
chaos caused by the crisis and bankruptcy of traditional society and the old liberal
order, an ambiguous and complex response that oscillates between carnivalesque
laughter, playful parody, pathetic denunciation. or lyrical lament. Hence the
constant resort to satire, irony and parody, an aesthetic of the cartoonish, the
grotesque, the shapeless or deformed, which shows a dislocated or upside-down
world, the absence or perversion of meaning. He successfully cultivated the wide
spectrum of artistic fields in which he ventured: painting, sculpture, drawing,
engraving, poetry, narrative and essay, in addition to having been a tireless
traveler, a fact that gave him the opportunity to be strongly linked to the European
pictorial avant-garde. He died in Buenos Aires in 1947

Carlos Luis Fallas

(Costa Rica, 1909-1966)

Costa Rican writer. Throughout his life he was a railroad worker, a peasant laborer,
a dock loader and a bricklayer, to remember some of the many jobs he held and
which very soon forced him to abandon his studies.

A member of the Communist Party, his experience as a banana cutter and

organizer of workers' strikes on the United Fruit Company plantations was
fundamental to literature, an experience on which he based Mamita Yunai (1941),
his most well-known and unsung novel. undoubtedly an outstanding example of the
social protest literature that abounded in those years. In it he denounced the
abuses of the local powerful and American imperialism, and showed a nature that
was hostile towards the peasants. Fallas is also the author of the novels Gente y
gentecillas (1947), Mi madrina (1950) and Marcos Ramírez (Adventures of a boy)
(1952), where the stories told are sometimes enriched with humor and irony that
recall the picaresque novel. Three Stories (1967) was published after his death.
 EGRAPHY
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