Hernán Rivera Letelier (born 11 July 1950 in

Talca Talca () is a city and commune in Chile located about south of Santiago, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile). As of the 2012 census, the city had a population of 201,142. The city is an important ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

) is a Chilean

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

. Until the age of 11 he lived in the Algorta saltpeter mining town, in the north of Chile. When it was closed down, he and his family moved to

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

, where his mother died. His siblings went to live with his aunts. He stayed in Antofagasta, alone, until he was about 11. To survive, he sold newspapers. Later he worked as a messenger for Anglo Lautaro Nirate Company, until his thirst for adventure led him to spend three years traveling in Chile, Bolivia, Perú, Ecuador and Argentina. He returned to Antofagasta in 1973 and began to work at another company, Mantos Blancos. He married a 17-year-old girl when he was 24. Later he left for

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and the first royal governor of Chile. After having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...

, another saltpeter mining town. He completed his seventh and eighth years of study at night school, and at the Inacap educational institute he earned his license as a

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

instructor. Today he lives in Antofagasta with his wife and four children. He has received the ''Premio Consejo Nacional de Libro'' (Chilean National Book Award) twice, in 1994 and 1996. His novel ''El arte de la resurrección'' won the Premio Alfaguara de Novela in Spain in 2010. Although his early works consisted of poetry and stories (''Poemas y Pomadas'' ''Cuentos breves y Cuescos de brevas''), it is as a novelist that he has had the greatest success, both critical and popular. His books have been translated into several languages and a film adaption of one novel has recently been released. He dreams of having a literary style which blends "the magic of

Juan Rulfo Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo (; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel ''Pedro Páramo'', and the ...

, the marvels of

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

, the playfulness of Cortázar, the refinement of

Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), '' The Old Gringo'' (1985) and '' Christop ...

, and the intelligence of

Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known w ...

." ''El arte de la resurrección'' is a comic love story set in the early 1940s during a strike by saltpetre miners in barren northern Chile. It centres on the obsession of the historical-mythical folk preacher El Cristo de Elqui (the Christ of Elqui) with making a disciple of a devout prostitute called Magalena Mercado.

Published works

* ''Poemas y pomadas'' (Poems and Ointments). 1988 * ''Cuentos breves y cuesco de brevas'' (Shorts Tales and Tales About Figs). 1990 * ''La reina Isabel cantaba rancheras'' (The Queen Isabel Sang Mexican Music). 1994 * ''Himno del ángel parado en una pata'' (The Anthem of the Angel Standing on one Foot). 1996 * ''Fatamorgana de amor con banda de música'' (Mirage of Love with Band of Musicians). 1998 * ''Donde mueren los valientes'' (Where Brave Men Perish). Short stories. 1999 * ''Los trenes se van al purgatorio'' (Trains Leave for Purgatory). 2000 * ''Santa María de las flores negras'' (Santa María of the Black Flowers). 2002 * ''Canción para Caminar Sobre las Aguas'' (Song for Walking on Water). 2004 * ''El Romance del Duende que me Escribe las Novelas'' (The Romance of the Leprechaun Who Writes My Novels). 2005 * ''El Fantasista'' (The Fantasist). 2007 * ''Mi Nombre es Malarrosa'' (My Name is Malarrosa). 2008 * ''La Contadora de Películas'' (The Movie-Teller). 2009 * ''El arte de la resurrección'' (The Art of Resurrection). 2010 * ''El Escritor de Epitafios'' (The Writer of Epitaphs). 2011 * ''Historia de Amor con Hombre Bailando'' (Love Story with a Dancing Man). 2013 * ''El vendedor de pájaros'' (The Bird-Seller). 2014. * ''La muerte es una vieja historia''(Love is an Ancient Story). 2017 * ''La muerte tiene olor a Pachuli'' (Death Smells of Pachuli). 2017 * ''La muerte se desnuda en La Habana'' (Death Strips Naked in Havana). 2017 * ''El hombre que miraba al cielo'' (The Man Who Looked at the Sky). 2018 * ''El autodidacta'' (The Self-Taught Man). 2019 * ''Epifaníá en el desierto'' (Epiphany in the Desert). 2020 * ''El secuestro de la hermana Tegualda'' (The Kidnapping of Sister Tegualda). 2021 * ''Hombres que llegan a un pueblo'' (Men Who Arrive at a Town).2022

Translations

Many of Hernán Rivera Letelier's books have been translated into foreign languages, including French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Polish and Turkish. An English translation of ''La Contadora de Películas'' (The Movie-Teller) by Margaret Jull Costa was published by MacLehose in November 2023.

Film

A film based on ''La Contadora de Películas'' (The Movie-Teller) directed by Lone Scherfig and starring Bérénice Beko, Daniel Brühl and Antonio de la Torre was released in 2023. Screen adaptation by Isabel Coixet, Hernán Rivera Letelier, and Rafa Russo.

References

External links

Hernan Rivera Letelier
by Guillermo Schavelzon & asociados, Agencia litetaria. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera Letelier, Hernan 1950 births Living people 20th-century Chilean novelists 20th-century Chilean male writers Chilean male novelists Chilean people of French descent 21st-century Chilean novelists 21st-century Chilean male writers