Jaramillo Levi, Enrique (1944–)

Enrique Jaramillo Levi, the Panamanian writer, dramatist, and editor, was born in Colón. He attended La Salle High School and in 1967 received a degree in English from the University of Panama. He earned master's degrees in creative writing (1969) and Latin American literature (1970) from the University of Iowa. In 1973, on a scholarship from the Center for Mexican Writers, he traveled to Mexico, where during the next twelve years he taught at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, founded the publishing company Editorial Signos, and published several books, articles, poems, and anthologies. From 1987 to 1990 he was a Fulbright scholar in the United States and also published the anthology When New Flowers Bloomed: Short Stories by Women Writers from Costa Rica and Panama (1991). Jaramillo Levi was the first Panamanian to publish a book of stories in the United States and in Spain. Some of his many published works include Duplicaciones (Duplications, 1973), Fugas y engranjes, 1978–1980 (Flights and Gears, 1982), Caracol yotros cuentos (Snail and Other Stories, 1998), Senderos retorcidos (Cuentos Selectos: 1968–1998), Twisted Footsteps: Selected Stories, 2001, Luminoso tiempo gris (Luminous Gray Time, 2002), and Echar raíces (To Take Root, 2003).

Aside from enriching the innovative literary tradition started by fellow Panamanian writer Rogelio Sinán (b. 1904), Jaramillo Levi's writings have opened new avenues of expression, with emphasis on universality and aesthetic experimentation. He has received many literary prizes. Now living in Panama, he continues to serve as editor of the magazine Maga, which he founded in 1984, and as director of Editorial Universitaria.

See alsoLiterature: Spanish America .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Works

Fugas y engranjes. Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 1982.

When New Flowers Bloomed: Short Stories by Women Writers from Costa Rica and Panama. Pittsburgh, PA: Latin American Literary Review Press, 1991.

Duplications and Other Stories. Pittsburgh, PA: Latin American Literary Review Press, 1994.

Caracol y otros cuentos. Mexico: Alfaguara, 1998.

Senderos retorcidos (Cuentos Selectos: 1968–1998). Mexico: Ediciones Vieira, 2001.

Luminoso tiempo gris. Madrid: Paginas de Espuma, 2002.

Echar raíces. Panama: Universal Books, 2003.

Pequeñas resistencias 2: Antología del cuento centroamericano contemporáneo. Madrid: Páginas de Espuma, 2003.

Secondary Works

Aguilar, Alfredo, ed. Puertas y ventanas: Acercamiento a la obra literaria de Enrique Jaramillo Levi. San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Universitaria Centroamericana, 1990.

Birmingham-Pokorny, Elba D. "Las realidades de Enrique Jaramillo-Levi: Una entrevista." Confluencia 8-9 (1993): 185-198.

Burgos, Fernando, ed. Los escritores y la creación en Hispanoamérica. Madrid: Castalia, 2004.

Foster, David William. Handbook of Latin American Literature. 2nd ed. New York: Garland, 1992.

García, Kay. "El agua: Un signo polisémico en la obra literaria de Enrique Jaramillo Levi." Confluencia 5, no. 2 (1990): 149-153.

Miró, Rodrigo. La literatura panameña. Panama: Editorial Universitaria, 1972.

                          Elba D. Birmingham-Pokorny

                                           Karin Fenn