Eliécer Cárdenas Espinosa ( Cañar, 10 December 1950 – 26 September 2021) was an Ecuadorian novelist.

Life and career

In his youth he went from school to school because he questioned the repressive systems and was suspended various times. For example, he attended meetings of the Young Socialists, with whom he fought against the Ministry of Education for free college enrollments, and he was arrested in 1970 during the dictatorship of Velasco Ibarra. In 1976 he graduated from the School of Jurisprudence of the

Central University of Ecuador The Central University of Ecuador () is a national university located in Quito, Ecuador. It is the oldest and largest university in the country, and one of the oldest universities in the Americas. The enrollment at the university is over 10,000 ...

with a degree in Social Sciences. In

Cuenca Cuenca may refer to: People * Cuenca (surname) Places Ecuador * Cuenca Canton, in the Azuay Province ** Cuenca, Ecuador, capital of Cuenca Canton and Azuay Province ** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuenca Peru * Cuenca District, Huarochirí ...

he married Carmen Patiño Ullauri. From 1977 to 1978 he wrote the novel ''Polvo y ceniza'' (Dust and Ashes), which he entered into a novel contest held by the

House of Ecuadorian Culture La Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana (''The House of Ecuadorian Culture'') is a cultural organization founded by Benjamín Carrión on August 9, 1944, during the presidency of Dr Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra. It was created to stimulate, to direct an ...

for writers under 40, and he won first prize. The book, published in 1979, is the most sold novel in Ecuador. The novel put Cárdenas in the pinnacle of Ecuadorian narrative in the 1980s. In 1991 he was elected the president of the

Azuay Azuay (, ), Province of Azuay is a province of Ecuador, created on 25 June 1824. It encompasses an area of . Its capital and largest city is Cuenca. It is located in the south center of Ecuador in the highlands. Its mountains reach above sea le ...

branch of the House of Ecuadorian Culture, and he won Third Prize at the National Biennial Novel Contest with his novel ''Que te perdone el viento'' (May the Wind Forgive You).

Works

Novels

* ''Juego de Mártires'' (1976) * ''Polvo y ceniza'' (1979) Winner, Novel Contest for Writers Under 40 by the House of Ecuadorian Culture * ''Del silencio profundo'' (1980) * ''Siempre se mira el cielo'' (1985) * ''Las Humanas Certezas'' (1986) * ''Morir en Vilcabamba'' (1988) Winner of the Espinosa Pólit Prize * ''Los diamantes y los hombres de provecho'' (1989) * ''Diario de un idólatra'' (1990) * ''Una silla para Dios : (novela)'' (1997) * ''El oscuro final del Porvenir'' (2000) * ''Las innumerables tribus de los muertos: novela'' (2004) * ''El viaje de Padre Trinidad'' (2005) * ''Raffles manos de seda: (la leyenda de un bandido): novela'' (2008) * ''El árbol de los quemados: novela'' (2008) * ''La extraña dama inglesa: novela de misterio'' (2009) * ''El pinar de Segismundo'' (2013) * ''El héroe del brazo inerte'' (2013) * ''El enigma de la foto partida: (novela)'' (2013) * ''Las antiguas mañanas'' (2015)

Theater

* ''Morir en Vilcabamba : teatro'' (1998)

Chronicle

* ''Guerra y paz en Paquisha'' (1981)

Short-stories

* ''Hoy, al general ... Cuentos'' (1971) * ''La incompleta hermosura : relatos'' (1996) * ''El ejercicio y otros cuentos'' (2004) * ''Relatos del día libre : cuentos'' (2004)

Articles

* ''Háblanos, Bolívar'' (1983) * ''Del silencio profundo'' (1986)

References

1950 births 2021 deaths People from Cañar Province Ecuadorian male short story writers 21st-century novelists 20th-century Ecuadorian novelists Ecuadorian male novelists 20th-century Ecuadorian short story writers 21st-century short story writers 20th-century Ecuadorian male writers 21st-century Ecuadorian male writers {{Ecuador-writer-stub