Dante Castro Arrasco

Dante Castro Arrasco, 2011

Dante Castro Arrasco (* 1959 in Callao , Peru ) is a Peruvian writer , journalist and lawyer who is best known for his short stories . For his story Tierra de pishtacos he received the 1992 literature prize of the Casa de las Américas in La Habana ( Cuba ).

Career

Dante Castro Arrasco studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and literature at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM) in Lima . Upon completion of these studies, he went in 1992 to Cuba to attend the University of La Habana a Postgraduate studies take. After returning to Lima, he obtained his degree in language and literature from UNMSM.

Literary work

With his stories, Dante Castro addresses current social problems in Peru. With his short story Tiempo de dolor (“Time of Pain”), published in 1987 in the middle of the armed conflict in Peru , which at that time was still raging mainly in the Ayacucho region and far less in Lima , he was one of the very first in Peru to join dared a literary confrontation with the " dirty war ". Other works also dealt with themes from the Andean culture, such as Tierra de pishtacos (“Land of the Pishtakus / Butcher”) or Otorongo y otros cuentos (“The Jaguar and other stories”). For his short story Cuando hablan los muertos he received the Peruvian national prize for education "Horacio 1997".

His works are characterized by a gloomy mood and an open, direct style, whereby, according to the judgment of his colleague Marco Martos , his realism mixes reality with fantasy as it is “alive in each of us”.

The close connection of many of his works to topics of Quechua culture meant that some of them were among the first literary translations into Quechua , including Tiempo de dolor (translated from Washington Córdova Huamán into Chanka Quechua as Ñakay Pacha , 2007), Pishtaco ( Nakaq , 2010) and El ángel de la isla ( Isla angel , 2010).

Works

• 1986: Otorongo y otros cuentos
• 1987: El tiempo del dolor
• 1989: La guerra del arcángel San Gabriel
• 1991: Parte de Combate Lima, Editorial Manguaré
• 1991: Ausente medusa de cenizas Lima, Editorial Manguaré
• 1992: Tierra de Pishtacos . La Habana, Editorial de la Casa de las Américas
• 1998: Cuando hablan los muertos . Premio Nacional de Educación “Horacio 1997”, Ediciones de la Derrama Magisterial.
• 1999: Tierra de Pishtacos (new edition), Lima
• 2002: Pepebotas (reached final for Premio Copé )
• 2012: Demonio de monte
• 2013: Libertad restringida
• 2014: Gordas al amanecer
• Cara Mujer
• Ébano de la noche negra
• Serape
• In partibus infidelium
• Ultima guagua en La Habana
• Prosas Paganas
• Shushupe

Web links

• María-Elvira Luna-Escudero-Alie: El pueblo incorpora transformando, no calca ni imita - Dante Castro Arrasco . Howard University / The Johns Hopkins U./SAIS, May 2006. With résumé, book reviews and extensive interview.