Jacinta Escudos
Encyclopedia
Jacinta Escudos, born in San Salvador
, is a writer whose body of work includes novels, short stories
, poetry
, creative nonfiction
, and journalistic chronicles that have been published in such Central American daily outlets as La Nación (Costa Rica
), La Prensa Gráfica (El Salvador
), and El Nuevo Diario (Nicaragua
). While she primarily writes in Spanish, she is fluent in English, German, and French, having worked as a translator for several years. She has traveled extensively and lived in various Central American countries and Europe. The pluralities of these cultural and geographical fusions manifest themselves in her literary production and intellectual thought. Her most recent novel, A-B-Sudario (Alfaguara, 2003), was awarded the Mario Monteforte Toledo Central American Prize for Fiction (Premio Centroamericano de Novela Mario Monteforte Toledo). She has also received residencies by La Maison des Écrivains Étrangers et des Traducteurs in Saint-Nazaire
, France
and Heinrich Böll Haus in Langenbroich, Germany
.
Although a prolific author with many publications, the majority of Escudos’s work remains unpublished. Despite the often limited means of literary circulation in Central America, some of Escudos's unpublished work has nonetheless been recognized. In 2000, for instance, Escudos won a national contest in El Salvador, the Tenth Annual Literary Contest of Ahuachapán (Décimos Juegos Florales de Ahuachapán) for her book, Crónicas para sentimentales.
Escudos’s narrative voice engages with experimental forms and techniques. This experimentation is intentional, one that structures and situates her work through the opening of possibilities in relationship to selfhood and space. This narrative voice and its relationship to other literary maps is demonstrated in Escudos’s current participation in the blogosphere
. Her official blog
, Jacintario, is a regularly updated medium––an extension of Escudos's writing that operates as a daily form of expression where the author's voice, and content, varies. As an online cultural magazine, Jacintario contributes to the blogosphere not simply because it is a production by an eminent literary figure, but because of the immediacy and access the blog offers in relationship to a genre in the making.
Her work, in addition, has been featured in the following collections:
San Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
, is a writer whose body of work includes novels, short stories
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
, poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, creative nonfiction
Creative nonfiction
Creative nonfiction is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts with other nonfiction, such as technical writing or journalism, which is also rooted in accurate fact, but is not primarily written in service...
, and journalistic chronicles that have been published in such Central American daily outlets as La Nación (Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
), La Prensa Gráfica (El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
), and El Nuevo Diario (Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
). While she primarily writes in Spanish, she is fluent in English, German, and French, having worked as a translator for several years. She has traveled extensively and lived in various Central American countries and Europe. The pluralities of these cultural and geographical fusions manifest themselves in her literary production and intellectual thought. Her most recent novel, A-B-Sudario (Alfaguara, 2003), was awarded the Mario Monteforte Toledo Central American Prize for Fiction (Premio Centroamericano de Novela Mario Monteforte Toledo). She has also received residencies by La Maison des Écrivains Étrangers et des Traducteurs in Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Heinrich Böll Haus in Langenbroich, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Although a prolific author with many publications, the majority of Escudos’s work remains unpublished. Despite the often limited means of literary circulation in Central America, some of Escudos's unpublished work has nonetheless been recognized. In 2000, for instance, Escudos won a national contest in El Salvador, the Tenth Annual Literary Contest of Ahuachapán (Décimos Juegos Florales de Ahuachapán) for her book, Crónicas para sentimentales.
Escudos’s narrative voice engages with experimental forms and techniques. This experimentation is intentional, one that structures and situates her work through the opening of possibilities in relationship to selfhood and space. This narrative voice and its relationship to other literary maps is demonstrated in Escudos’s current participation in the blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
. Her official blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, Jacintario, is a regularly updated medium––an extension of Escudos's writing that operates as a daily form of expression where the author's voice, and content, varies. As an online cultural magazine, Jacintario contributes to the blogosphere not simply because it is a production by an eminent literary figure, but because of the immediacy and access the blog offers in relationship to a genre in the making.
Publications
Escudos's notable literary enterprises include:- Crónicas para sentimentales (F&G Editores, 2010)
- El Diablo sabe mi nombre (Uruk editores, 2008)
- A-B-Sudario (Alfaguara, 2003)
- Felicidad doméstica y otras cosas aterradoras (Editorial X, 2002)
- El Desencanto (Dirección de Publicaciones e Impresos, 2001)
- Cuentos Sucios (Dirección de Publicaciones e Impresos, 1997)
- Contra-corriente (UCA Editores, 1993)
- Apuntes de una historia de amor que no fue (UCA Editores, 1987)
Her work, in addition, has been featured in the following collections:
- Idea crónica: Literatura de no ficción iberoamericana (Fundación TyPA, 2006)
- El Milagrero/Der Wundertäter (DTV, 2006)
- Literaturas centroamericanas hoy (Iberoamericana/Vervuert Verlag, 2005)
- Antología de cuentistas salvadoreñas (UCA Editores, 2004)
- Cicatrices: un retrato del cuento centroamericano (Anamá Ediciones, 2004)
- Pequeñas resistencias 2: Antología del cuento centroamericano contemporáneo (Páginas de Espuma, 2003)
- Um etwas Zeit zu retten: Literatur und Kunst im Heinrich-Böll-Haus Langenbroich (Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 2003)
- Papayas und Bananen: Erotische und andere Erzählungen aus Zentralamerika (Brandes & Apsel Verlag, 2002)
- Los centroamericanos: (Antología de cuentos) (Alfaguara, 2002)
- Cuentos centroamericanos (Editorial Andrés Bello, 2000)
- Cuentistas hispanoamericanas: Antología (Literal Books, 1996)
- And We Sold the Rain: Contemporary Fiction from Central America (Seven Stories Press, 1996, 2nd Edition [1988])
- Lovers and Comrades: Women's Resistance Poetry from Central America (The Women's Press, 1989)
- You Can't Drown the Fire: Latin American Women Writing in Exile (Cleis Press, 1988)
- Ixok Amar-Go: Central American Women's Poetry for Peace/Poesia de mujeres centroamericanas por la paz (Granite Press, 1987)