Álvarez Gardeazábal, Gustavo (1945–)

Gustavo Álvarez Gardeazábal (b. 31 October 1945), Colombian writer. A native of Tuluá, Valle, he studied chemical engineering at Medellín's Universidad Pontificia. About 1963 he published parts of his first novel, Piedra pintada (1965), and was expelled from the university. Álvarez returned to Valle and continued to write fiction. The "Violencia" in Valle remained a major theme of his work, but after 1977 his novels reflected other currents as well, including opposition to the Gran Cauca elite. Álvarez taught at the Universidad del Valle (Cali) and was elected in 1978 to the municipal councils of Cali and of Tuluá. Recognized as Valle's major writer, he was a Guggenheim fellow in 1984–1985 and has won numerous other awards. His novels include La tara del papa (1971); Cóndores no entierran todos los días (1972); Dabeiba (1973); El bazar de los idiotas (1974); El titiritero (1977); Los míos (1981); Los sordos ya no hablan (1991); Prisionero de la esperanza (2000); and Comandante Paraíso (2002). He was elected Governor of Valle del Cauca in 1997. In 1999 he was accused of corruption and sentenced to six and a half years in prison, although his supporters doubted the fairness or legality of the proceedings against him. Alvarez himself referred to his case as "orchestrated by the presidential campaign of Horacio Serpa and the U.S. Embassy."

See alsoLiterature: Spanish America .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Raymond L. Williams, comp., Aproximaciones a Gustavo Álvarez Gardeazábal (1977).

Raymond L. Williams, The Colombian Novel, 1844–1987 (1991).

David C. Foster, Handbook of Latin American Literature, 2d ed. (1992), p. 210.

Additional Bibliography

González Rodas, Pablo. Colombia: Novela y violencia. Manizales, Colombia: Secretaria de Cultura de Caldas, 2003.

Tittler, Jonathan. El verbo y el mando: Vida y milagros de Gustavo Alvarez Gardeazábal. Tuluá, Colombia: Unidade Central del Valle/Collección CantaRana, 2005.

Zambrano, Jaime. La violencia en Colombia: La ficción de Alvarez Gardeazábal y el discurso histórico. New York: P. Lang, 1997.

                                     J. LeÓn Helguera