Manuel Zapata Olivella ( Santa Cruz of Lorica, Córdoba, 17 March 1920 – Bogota, 19 November 2004) was a

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

, anthropologist and Colombian

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

Biography

When he was a boy, his father, the professor Antonio María Zapata Vásquez, moved with his family to Cartagena de Indias. Zapata Olivella's younger sister, Delia Zapata Olivella, was a Colombian dancer and folklorist. He studied Medicine in the National University of Colombia, in Bogota. In

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, he worked in the Psychiatric Sanatorium of Dr. Ramírez and afterwards in the Hospital Ortopédico of Alfonso Ortiz Thrown. He also worked for the magazine ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' and for the magazine ''Events for All''. It argued against his brother Virgil by defending the United States, but he later changed his mind after being racially discriminated during a trip to the country. During his stay in Mexico, he wrote the unpublished novel "Bitter Rice". He published several studies on the cultures of Afrocolombians. He taught in several universities of United States, Canada, Central America, and Africa. He founded and directed the literary magazine ''National Letters''. The main theme of his narrative is the history and the culture of the inhabitants of the Colombian Caribbean, especially the lives of blacks and natives. His most important work is the novel ''Changó'' (1983), an extensive work that is presented as an epic of the ''afroamericanos'', narrating their origins in Africa. In a sense, Changó is a culmination of all of his previous writings. His previous novel ''In Chimá is born a saint'' (1964) was a finalist in two contests, the Esso of 1963, in which it was defeated by

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

with '' The bad hour'', and the Prize of Brief Novel Seix Barral, in which first place went to ''

The city and the dogs ''The City and the Dogs'' ( es, La ciudad y los perros) is a 1985 Peruvian drama film directed by Francisco José Lombardi. It is based on ''The Time of the Hero'', a 1963 novel by Nobel Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, which tells the story ...

'' by

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...

Works

Short stories

* 1948 – ''Pasión vagabunda'' * 1952 – ''He visto la noche'' * 1954 – ''China 6 am'' * 1961 – ''Cuentos de muerte y libertad'' * 1962 – ''El cirujano de la selva'' * 1967 – ''¿Quién dio el fusil a Oswald?'' * 1990 – ''Fábulas de Tamalameque''

Novels

* 1947 – ''Tierra mojada'' * 1960 – ''La calle 10'' * 1963 – ''Detrás del rostro'' * 1963 – ''Chambacú, corral de negros'', honorable mention at the

Premio Casa de las Américas The and its twin the are Sedan (automobile), sedans sold in Japan from 2001 to 2021 by Toyota. The sedans are designated as a compact car by Vehicle size class#Japan, Japanese dimension regulations and the exterior dimensions do not change wi ...

(1963) * 1964 – ''En Chimá nace un santo'' * 1983 – ''Changó, el Gran Putas 1983 – Historia de un Joven Negro'' * 1986 – ''El fusilamiento del Diablo'' * 1989 – ''Hemingway, el cazador de la Muerte''

Essays

* 1997 – "La rebelión de los genes"

Works in English

*''Chambacu, Black Slum'', translator Jonathan Tittler, Latin American Literary Review Press, 1989, *''Changó, the Biggest Badass'', translator Jonathan Tittler, Texas Tech University Press, 2010, *

References

External links

Colombian oral history archive
Manuel Zapata Olivella Collection of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Zapata Olivella, Manuel 2004 deaths Colombian folklorists 1920 births Colombian people of African descent Colombian male novelists Colombian male short story writers 20th-century Colombian novelists 20th-century short story writers 20th-century male writers People from Córdoba Department Colombian expatriates in Mexico