Literature of Colombia
Encyclopedia
Culture of Colombia
Many aspects of Colombian culture can be traced back to the early culture of Spain of the 16th century and its collision with Colombia's native civilizations . The Spanish brought Catholicism, African slaves, the feudal encomienda system, and a caste system that favored European-born whites...
, is heterogeneous, tropical and diverse due to the struggle between the Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
, African and Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
heritages.
Colonial literature
Under the Spanish Empire, the main topic of the local literature was religious. Some of the main authors of this period are:- Hernando Domínguez Camargo (BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, 1606 - TunjaTunjaTunja is a city and municipality located in the central part of Colombia, in the region of "Alto Chicomocha". As of the 2005 Census it had 152,419 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Department of Boyacá and part of the subregion of the Central Boyacá Province. It is approximately 145 km...
, 1659), Jesuit priestPriestA priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
and writer. His work was influenced by the Spanish poet Luis de GóngoraLuis de GóngoraLuis de Góngora y Argote was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered to be the most prominent Spanish poets of their age. His style is characterized by what was called culteranismo, also known as Gongorism...
, in a cultural trend known as the Indias BaroqueBaroqueThe Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
. His most recognized works are ”Epic Poem to St Ignacio of Loyola” and “Bouquet of poetic flowers”. - Francisco Álvarez de Velasco y Zorrilla (Bogotá, 1647 - MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, 1708). His main work was Rhytmica Sacra, Moral y Laudatiria. His writings show admiration for the work of Francisco de QuevedoFrancisco de QuevedoFrancisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, Luis de Góngora, Quevedo was one of the most prominent Spanish poets of the age. His style is characterized by what was called conceptismo...
and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. - Francisca Josefa del Castillo. TunjaTunjaTunja is a city and municipality located in the central part of Colombia, in the region of "Alto Chicomocha". As of the 2005 Census it had 152,419 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Department of Boyacá and part of the subregion of the Central Boyacá Province. It is approximately 145 km...
n nunNunA nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
, recognized as one of the most important female authors of mysticismMysticismMysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
. - Juan de CastellanosJuan de CastellanosJuan de Castellanos was a Criollo poet, soldier and Catholic priest.He travelled to America before 1545 as a cavalry soldier, and acquired some property on the Pearl Coast...
. Wrote the longest poem ever in the Spanish languageSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Elegías de Varones Ilustres de Indias. - Juan Rodríguez Freyle. Spanish priest, wrote the extensive chronicle of colonial life El CarneroEl CarneroThe Billygoat in its native language, is perhaps the most important novel of the Colombian colonial times. It is a historical and costumes chronicle written in 1638 by the American-born Juan Rodríguez Freyle...
(The Billygoat).
Post-independence literature
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
.
During the nineteenth century, political writing was led by Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
. Local journalism was initiated by Antonio Nariño
Antonio Nariño
Antonio de la Santísima Concepción Nariño y Álvarez was an ideological Colombian precursor and one of the early political and military leaders of the independence movement in the New Granada - Early political activity :Nariño was born to an aristocratic family...
. The Colombian government established the first Academy of Spanish language in the American continent, in 1871.
Other relevant authors were:
- Camilo TorresCamilo TorresCamilo Torres may refer to:*Camilo Torres Restrepo, liberation theologian, priest and guerrilla member in Colombia during the 1960s*Camilo Torres Tenorio, political leader of Colombia's independence struggle against Spain in the 1810s...
- Francisco Antonio ZeaFrancisco Antonio ZeaFrancisco Antonio Zea was a Neogranadine journalist, botanist, diplomat and statesman that served as the 1st Vice President of Colombia under then-President Simón Bolívar...
. - José Fernández MadridJosé Fernández MadridJosé Luis Álvaro Alvino Fernández Madrid was a Neogranadine statesman, physician, scientist and writer, who was President of the interim triumvirate of the United Provinces of New Granada in 1814, and President of the United Provinces of the New Granada in 1816...
(February 19, 1789 - June 28, 1830).
Costumbrismo
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the main topic in Colombian literature was the colourful depiction of peasant life, tied to strong criticism of society and government. This type of literature was called costumbrista literature. Some of the authors of this period are:- Tomás CarrasquillaTomás CarrasquillaTomás Carrasquilla Naranjo was a Colombian writer who lived in the Antioquia region. He dedicated himself to very simple jobs: tailor, secretary of a judge, storekeeper in a mine, and worker of the Ministry of Public Works...
- Adolfo León GómezAdolfo León GómezAdolfo León Gómez was a Colombian poet, jurist and politician born in Pasca, Cundinamarca. He was a grandson of Josefa Acevedo de Gomez, the first civilian woman writer in Colombia.-Further reading:...
- José María Cordovez Moure
- Jorge IsaacsJorge IsaacsJorge Isaacs Ferrer was a Colombian writer, politician and soldier. His only novel, María, became one of the most notable works of the Romantic movement in Spanish literature....
- Julio Arboleda
- Gregorio Gutiérrez González
- Rafael PomboRafael Pombo"Rafael Pombo is one of the great poets of Colombia, and the best exponent of romanticism in the country". Great Encyclopedia of ColombiaJosé Rafael de Pombo y Rebolledo was a Colombian poet born in Bogotá...
- Soledad AcostaSoledad AcostaSoledad Acosta Kemble de Samper was a Colombian writer and journalist. A sophisticated, well-travelled, and social woman, she received a much higher and better rounded education than most women of her time and country, and enjoyed a high standing in society, not only for her family background, but...
- Josefa Acevedo de GomezJosefa Acevedo de GomezJosefa Acevedo de Gomez was the first civilian woman writer in Colombia. She was born in Bogotá and died in Pasca, Cundinamarca.She was grandmother of Colombian politician and poet Adolfo Leon Gomez.- External links :*...
- Candelario Obeso
- Manuel AncízarManuel AncízarManuel Esteban Ancízar Basterra was a Colombian lawyer, writer, and journalist of Colombia.He was born in the state of Cundinamarca and educated in Bogotá. He then spent time in Cuba and Caracas, Venezuela, returning in 1847. He founded a publishing house and a newspaper before joining the...
Modern literature
- Jose Eustasio RiveraJosé Eustasio RiveraJosé Eustasio Rivera Salas was a Colombian lawyer and poet primarily known for his national epic The Vortex.-Early life:...
- Rafael Maya
- León de GreiffLeón de GreiffFrancisco de Asís León Bogislao de Greiff Haeusler , was a Colombian poet of the 20th century he is notable for his stylistic innovations and eclectic deliberate use of obscure lexicon. Best known simply as León de Greiff, he often used different pen names of which the most popular were Leo le Gris...
- Luis Vidales
- Luis Carlos López
- Germán ArciniegasGermán ArciniegasGermán Arciniegas was a Colombian essayist and historian. Arciniegas wrote over 50 books and many columns in the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo and also taught at Columbia University in New York.- Books :...
- Porfirio Barba-JacobPorfirio Barba-JacobMiguel Ángel Osorio Benítez , better known by his pseudonym, Porfirio Barba-Jacob, was a Colombian poet and writer....
- José María Vargas VilaJosé María Vargas VilaJosé María Vargas Vila Bonilla . Colombian writer.He was one of the most controversial writers in the beginning of 20th century in the American continent, Jose Maria Vargas Vila characterized by its radical liberal ideals and the consequent critic against the clergy, the conservative ideas and the...
Stone and Sky (Piedra y Cielo)
The industrialization process in Latin America during the twentieth century generated new literary movements such as the poetic movement named “Piedra y cielo” (1939). Its main authors are:- Eduardo Carranza
- Jorge Gaitán Durán
- Jorge Rojas
- Arturo Camacho Ramírez
Nothing-ism (Nadaismo)
The violent events in Colombia during the 1940s and 1950s, such as La ViolenciaLa Violencia
La Violencia is a period of civil conflict in the Colombian countryside between supporters of the Colombian Liberal Party and the Colombian Conservative Party, a conflict which took place roughly from 1948 to 1958 ....
and the military government of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was a Colombian politician, military officer, General of the Army and President of Colombia between 1953 and 1957.- Biographic data :...
, resulted in the Nothing-ist movement, which is the local interpretation of existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
and nihilism
Nihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
in literature. Authors of this movement are:
- Gonzalo ArangoGonzalo ArangoGonzalo Arango Arias was a Colombian poet, journalist and philosopher. He was famous in his country for being the founder of a literature and philosophy movement called "Nadaísmo" with other young Colombian thinkers of his generation and that was inspired by the Colombian philosopher Fernando...
- Jotamario Arbeláez
- Eduardo EscobarEduardo EscobarEduardo José Escobar is a Major League Baseball shortstop for the Chicago White Sox.-External links:...
- Fanny Buitrago
- Amílcar Osorio
- Humberto Navarro
- Taylor Hamilton
- Kaleigh Mendonca
- Nikki Kammerer
The Boom
Latin American Boom
The Latin American Boom was a literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s when the work of a group of relatively young Latin American novelists became widely circulated in Europe and throughout the world...
was a prolific period for Colombian literature.
- Gabriel García MárquezGabriel García MárquezGabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
- Eduardo Caballero CalderónEduardo Caballero CalderónEduardo Caballero Calderón was a Colombian journalist and writer. As journalist, he worked to the main Colombian newspapers, such as El Tiempo and El Espectador. Also he was a diplomat from Colombia in Peru, Argentina, Spain and France...
- Manuel Mejía VallejoManuel Mejía VallejoManuel Mejía Vallejo, was a Colombian writer and journalist. The specialist Luís Carlos Molina says that Mejía represents the Andean aspect of the contemporary Colombian narrative, characterized by a world of symbols which are little by little being lost in the memory of the mountain.Doctor...
- Álvaro MutisÁlvaro MutisÁlvaro Mutis Jaramillo is a Colombian poet, novelist, and essayist and author of the compendium The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll.-Early life:...
- Manuel Zapata Olivella
- Andres CaicedoAndrés CaicedoLuis Andrés Caicedo Estela was a Colombian writer born in Cali, the city where he would spend most of his life. Despite his premature death, his work is considered one of the most original in Colombian literature...
- Alfredo IriarteAlfredo IriarteAlfredo Iriarte was a Colombian historian and writer, author of many short historical and fiction novels and essays. Among his books can be mentioned "Lo que lengua mortal decir no pudo" , "Bestiario tropical" , “Episodios Bogotanos” , “Espárragos para dos leones”, “Batallas y batallitas en la...
- Germán ArciniegasGermán ArciniegasGermán Arciniegas was a Colombian essayist and historian. Arciniegas wrote over 50 books and many columns in the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo and also taught at Columbia University in New York.- Books :...
- Álvaro Cepeda SamudioÁlvaro Cepeda SamudioÁlvaro Cepeda Samudio was a Colombian journalist, novelist, short story writer, and filmmaker. Within Colombia and the rest of Latin America, he is known in his own right as an important and innovative writer and journalist, largely inspiring much of the artistically-, intellectually- and...
- Nicole Kammerer
Contemporary authors
- Germán Castro CaycedoGermán Castro CaycedoGermán Castro Caycedo is a Colombian journalist and writer. Castro Caycedo's topics revolve around the Colombian reality, under the parameters of the cultural identity and its social and economic phenomena....
- Daniel Samper PizanoDaniel Samper PizanoDaniel Samper Pizano is a Colombian lawyer, journalist, and prolific writer.-Career:Samper attended the Gimnasio Moderno, where he began writing in the students newspaper El Aguilucho. At the age of 19 he worked for the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo as a reporter...
- Fernando VallejoFernando VallejoFernando Vallejo Rendón is a novelist, filmmaker and essayist, born in Colombia. He obtained Mexican nationality in 2007.Vallejo was born and raised in Medellín, though he left his hometown early in life...
- Laura RestrepoLaura RestrepoLaura Restrepo is one of the most skilled writers to emerge from Latin America since the days of the Latin American Boom. She was born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1950 and after about 25 years she began to write her first serious works, mainly political columns. Her first fiction novel, Isle of...
- Juan B Gutierrez
- José Manuel Arango
- Giovanni Quessep
- Harold Alvarado Tenorio
- Antonio Iriarte Cadena
- Yezid Morales R
- David Alberto Campos Vargas
- Juan Gustavo Cobo Borda
- María Mercedes Carranza
- Raúl Gómez Jattin
- Elkin Restrepo
- Germán EspinosaGermán EspinosaGermán Espinosa was a Colombian novelist, poet and author born and based in Cartagena, Colombia. He wrote over forty works over the course of his career. He often used his native Cartagena for the backdrop or inspiration for his writings...
- David Sánchez JuliaoDavid Sánchez JuliaoDavid Sánchez Juliao was a Colombian author, journalist, storyteller and diplomat.Sánchez Juliao was born in Lorica. He was the Colombian ambassador to India during the César Gaviria administration and ambassador to Egypt during the Ernesto Samper administration...
- Rafael Humberto Moreno Durán
- Juan Gustavo Cobo Borda
- Jorge FrancoJorge FrancoJorge Franco was a Portuguese Olympic fencer. He competed in the team sabre event at the 1952 Summer Olympics.-References:...
- Estela Duran
- Ricardo Silva Romero
- Héctor Abad FaciolinceHéctor Abad FaciolinceHéctor Abad Faciolince is a Colombian novelist, essayist, journalist, and editor. Abad is considered one of the most talented "post-boom" writers in Latin American literature. Abad is best known for his bestselling novels Angosta, and more recently, El Olvido que Seremos Héctor Abad Faciolince...
- Rafael Chaparro Madiedo
/* New Literature */
Disillusioned Generation / Generación Desencantada
This generation groups a broad and ambiguous list of writers, poets who began to published after Nadaísmo movement (a local copy of Beat litery movement) in the decade of 1970. Poets like Giovanni Quessep like , Harold Alvarado Tenorio, Juan Gustavo Cobo Borda, Elkin Restrepo, Jose Manuel Arango, Darío Jaramillo Agudelo, Augusto Pinilla Juan Manuel Roca among many others, have been classified in it, although they have differences in style, themes and ideology.Recent Generations
Some writers like Cristian Valencia, Alberto Salcedo Ramos and Jorge Enrique Botero, have written literary journalism, close to Gonzo style. In fiction there are authors like Hector Abad FaciolinceHéctor Abad Faciolince
Héctor Abad Faciolince is a Colombian novelist, essayist, journalist, and editor. Abad is considered one of the most talented "post-boom" writers in Latin American literature. Abad is best known for his bestselling novels Angosta, and more recently, El Olvido que Seremos Héctor Abad Faciolince...
, Santiago Gamboa
Santiago Gamboa
-Biography:Born at Bogotá, he studied literature at the Javerian University of Bogotá. He travelled to Spain where he remained until 1990 and graduated in Hispanic Philology at the University of Alcalá de Henares...
, Juan Sebastian Cardenas, Nahum Montt, Miguel Mendoza Luna, Sebastian Pineda Buitrago, Mauricio Loza, Ignacio Arroyave Piedrhíta, Antonio Garcia
Antonio García
Antonio García nom de guerre of Eliécer Erlington Chamorro Acosta , one of the main commanders of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional , or National Liberation Army.The ELN is a revolutionary, Marxist, insurgent guerrilla group that has been operating in several regions of Colombia...
, Mario Mendoza
Mario Mendoza
Mario Mendoza Aizpuru is a former Major League Baseball infielder. Mendoza, a lifetime 0.215 hitter, is best known as the threshold for batting aptitude, with the "Mendoza Line", meaning a batting average of .200....
, James Canon
James Cañón
Born and raised in Ibagué, Colombia, James Cañón received his B.A in advertising from Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano of Bogotá. He moved to New York in the mid 1990s to study English, and later earned his MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. His short stories and essays have been...
, Ricardo Abdahllah, Juan Pablo Plata
Juan Pablo Plata
Juan Pablo Plata is a Colombian writer, journalist and researcher.He studied literature at Universidad de los Andes, but did graduate from Universidad Javeriana, in Bogotá....
, Evelio Rosero Diago, Antonio Ungar, Laura Restrepo
Laura Restrepo
Laura Restrepo is one of the most skilled writers to emerge from Latin America since the days of the Latin American Boom. She was born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1950 and after about 25 years she began to write her first serious works, mainly political columns. Her first fiction novel, Isle of...
, Ruben Varona
Ruben Varona
Ruben Varona is a Colombian poet and writer specialized in thrillers and detective narrative.He was named representative for Latin America for the International Association of Crime Writers IACW .[1] He has been chosen for several collections and anthologies of short stories: At the Edge of...
, William Ospina, David Alberto Campos, Oscar Perdomo Gamboa
Oscar Perdomo Gamboa
Oscar Perdomo Gamboa is a writer born in the city of Ibagué, Colombia. Studied Journalism and a magister in Colombian and Latin American literature. Won the Jorge Isaacs award with the novel Hacia la Auora in 1998, a story about a student who can control other people's dreams. The book was...
, Juan Esteban Constain, Juan Álvarez
Juan Álvarez
Juan Nepomuceno Álvarez Hurtado was a general and interim president of Mexico for a few months in 1855. He fought in all the major wars of Mexico, from the War of Independence through the Pastry War, the Mexican-American War, and the War of the Reform to the war against the French Intervention...
, Antonio Iriarte, Esmir Garcés, Winston Morales, Efraim Medina Reyes
Efraim Medina Reyes
Efraim Medina Reyes is a Colombian writer born June 29, 1964 in Cartagena, Colombia. He is also the bassist and composer of the rock band, he currently lives between Colombia and Vicenza, Italy. He is influenced by American cinema, jazz music and works of Andrés Caicedo, an emblematic figure of...
, Ricardo Silva Romero and many others.
Recent Poetry
In recent decades, in Colombia there has been a significant number of poets of importance, who deal with urban issues and anti-poetry. Among them are Andrea Cote, Lucia Estrada, Felipe García Quintero, Sergio Esteban Velez, whose poetry has been recognized internationally.Narco Literature
During the early years of the 1990 decade it began to appear in colombian literature the reality of the drug and political hereditary violence. Titles like The Reader (La Lectora) by Sergio ÁlvarezSergio Álvarez
Sergio Álvarez Boulet is a Cuban weightlifter.He represented Cuba at the 2000 Summer Olympics, ranking 5th....
and Rosario Tijeras by Jorge Franco
Jorge Franco
Jorge Franco was a Portuguese Olympic fencer. He competed in the team sabre event at the 1952 Summer Olympics.-References:...
and Our Lady of the Assassins
Our Lady of the Assassins (novel)
Our Lady of the Assassins is a semi-autobiographical novel by the Colombian writer Fernando Vallejo about an author in his fifties who returns to his hometown of Medellín after 30 years of absence to find himself trapped in an atmosphere of violence and murder caused by drug cartel warfare...
(La virgen de los sicarios) by Fernando Vallejo
Fernando Vallejo
Fernando Vallejo Rendón is a novelist, filmmaker and essayist, born in Colombia. He obtained Mexican nationality in 2007.Vallejo was born and raised in Medellín, though he left his hometown early in life...
began to portray the new fears and obsessions that the country had acquired at this stage of violence. Cities are the new scene of such violence, after many year of being told as rural case. Recently, there were published works which made a more extensive approach to the issue of drug trafficking and the involvement of it in the lives of Colombians. Works written by Juan Gabriel Vásquez and Sergio Alvarez
Sergio Álvarez
Sergio Álvarez Boulet is a Cuban weightlifter.He represented Cuba at the 2000 Summer Olympics, ranking 5th....
.
Poetry
- José Asunción SilvaJosé Asunción SilvaJosé Asunción Silva was a Colombian poet. He is considered one of the founders of Spanish-American Modernism.-Life:...
- Porfirio Barba-JacobPorfirio Barba-JacobMiguel Ángel Osorio Benítez , better known by his pseudonym, Porfirio Barba-Jacob, was a Colombian poet and writer....
- Piedad BonnetPiedad BonnetPiedad Bonnett is a Colombian poet, playwright and novelist.She moved to Bogotá when she was 8. She received her Bachelor degree in Philosophy and Literature in the Universidad de los Andes, where she is a professor since 1981....
- José Fernández MadridJosé Fernández MadridJosé Luis Álvaro Alvino Fernández Madrid was a Neogranadine statesman, physician, scientist and writer, who was President of the interim triumvirate of the United Provinces of New Granada in 1814, and President of the United Provinces of the New Granada in 1816...
- Jorge IsaacsJorge IsaacsJorge Isaacs Ferrer was a Colombian writer, politician and soldier. His only novel, María, became one of the most notable works of the Romantic movement in Spanish literature....
- Rafael PomboRafael Pombo"Rafael Pombo is one of the great poets of Colombia, and the best exponent of romanticism in the country". Great Encyclopedia of ColombiaJosé Rafael de Pombo y Rebolledo was a Colombian poet born in Bogotá...
- Zacarías ReyánZacarías ReyánZacarías Reyán , is the pseudonym of Reinaldo Antonio Plazas Peralta, also known as Z. Reyán, a Colombian writer, author of novels, poems and epics in Spanish language . He was born in Chiquinquirá on May 10, 1948...
- Sergio VelezSergio VelezSergio Vélez is a Colombian writer and journalist. The poet Olga Elena Mattei says that Vélez represents the Andean aspect of the contemporary Colombian poetry. Winner of the Premio Nacional de Periodismo Simón Bolívar 2010...
Children's literature
Some of the characters most recognized in Colombian children's literature and the popular imaginary are the stock characters created by Rafael PomboRafael Pombo
"Rafael Pombo is one of the great poets of Colombia, and the best exponent of romanticism in the country". Great Encyclopedia of ColombiaJosé Rafael de Pombo y Rebolledo was a Colombian poet born in Bogotá...
, which are often found in nursery rhyme
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
s, familiar folk tales and in the textbooks for elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
.
Other important children literature authors are:
- Jairo Anibal Niño: with his works "La alegria de querer" (The joy of love), "Razzgo, Indo y Zas", "Catalino Bocachica" among others
- Euclides Jaramillo: with the "Tales of Uncle rabbit".
From the 1980s, young adult fiction authors Gloria Cecilia Díaz, Irene Vasco, Evelio José Rosero, Yolanda Reyes and Pilar Lozano introduced new subjects for the genre such as conflict, kidnapping, death and fear. {http://www.ciudadviva.gov.co/octubre07/magazine/3/index.php}
Recent picture book voices include the work of Ivar da Coll, Claudia Rueda
Claudia Rueda
Claudia Rueda is a Colombian picture book author, whose works include Nacho and Lolita and My Little Polar Bear. Herbooks have been published in the United States, Spain and Mexico, and have been translated into French, Danish, Portuguese, Korean and Chinese.-Published books:"No" ,"My Little Polar...
, Jairo Buitrago and Rafael Yockteng.