Julio Ramón Ribeyro
Encyclopedia
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
- December 4, 1994, Lima, Peru) was a Peruvian writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
best known for his 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...
. He was also successful in other genres: novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
, theater, diary
Diary
A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
and aphorism
Aphorism
An aphorism is an original thought, spoken or written in a laconic and memorable form.The term was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates...
. In the year of his death, he was awarded the US$100,000 Premio Juan Rulfo de literatura latinoamericana y del Caribe
Juan Rulfo Prize
The Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature, created in 1991, is awarded to writers of literature from Latin America or the Caribbean who write in Spanish, Portuguese, French, or English, or to writers from any part of America who write in Spanish...
. His work has been translated into numerous languages, including English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The characters
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in his stories, often autobiographical and usually written in simple but ironic
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
language, tend to end up with their hopes cruelly dashed. But despite its apparent pessimism
Pessimism
Pessimism, from the Latin word pessimus , is a state of mind in which one perceives life negatively. Value judgments may vary dramatically between individuals, even when judgments of fact are undisputed. The most common example of this phenomenon is the "Is the glass half empty or half full?"...
, Ribeyro's work is often comic, its humor springing from both the author's sense of irony and the accidents that befall his protagonists.
Ribeyro studied literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in Universidad Católica in Lima. In 1960 he immigrated to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he worked as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
in France Presse and then as cultural advisor and ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
.
Partial bibliography
- Los gallinazos sin plumas (1954) Short Stories
- Relatos santacrucinos (1954) Short Stories
- Cuentos de circunstancias (1958) Short Stories
- Crónica de San Gabriel (1960) Novel
- Las botellas y los hombres (1964) Short Stories
- Tres historias sublevantes (1964) Short Stories
- Los geniecillos dominicales (1965) Novel
- Los cautivos (1972)
- El próximo mes me nivelo (1972) Short Stories
- Santiago, el Pajarero (1975) Theater
- La palabra del mudo (1973-77)
- Prosas apátridas (1975-78)
- Cambio de guardia (1976) Novel
- Silvio en El Rosedal (1977) Short Stories
- Atusparia (1981) Theatre
- Sólo para fumadores (1987)
- La tentación del fracaso (1987) Diaries
- Dichos de Luder (1989)
- La tentación del fracaso (1992-1995)
Awards
- Premio Nacional de Literatura (1983)
- Premio Nacional de Cultura (1993)
- Premio Juan Rulfo de Literatura Latinoamericana (1994)