- Vicente Leñero
Vicente Leñero (born
June 9 ,1933 inGuadalajara, Jalisco ) is a Mexican novelist, journalist, and playwright. He has written numerous books, stories, and plays, including a theatrical adaptation ofOscar Lewis 's "The Children of Sanchez ." He was awarded thePremio Xavier Villaurrutia in 2001, and the following year he received the Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes de México (National Prize of Arts and Sciences) for literature and linguistics.Works
Graduating from the
National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1959 with a degree incivil engineering , Leñero soon turned to writing to support himself. His first novel, "La voz adolorida" (1961), exhibits the psychological realism of his early writings, consisting of a mentally ill patient's monologue about his life before entering an asylum. "Los albañiles" followed in 1963, winning the Premio Biblioteca Breve, a prestigious literature award. Praised for its complex structure and symbolism, the work tells the story of a watchman at a construction site.Soon after, Leñero turned to playwrighting, adapting "Los albañiles" to drama format in 1970, as well as "La carpa" (1971) and an adaptation of "Los hijos de Sánchez" ("
The Children of Sanchez ," 1972). He was influential in starting the documentary genre of theater in Mexico, and two of his notable works are "Pueblo rechazado" and "El juicio". In the 1980s, Leñero released several successful nonfiction books, "La gota de agua", and "Asesinato: el doble crimen de los Flores Muñoz".His work also extends to other genres. Leñero worked as a screenwriter for "
El callejón de los milagros ", film for which he received anAriel Award in 1995 by theMexican Academy of Film and "El crimen del Padre Amaro " (2002, The Crime of Padre Amaro), one of Mexico's highest grossing movies. He also has worked as a journalist for publications such as "Claudia", "Excélsior " and "Proceso".He also adapted the story from "
Fuera del cielo " for its film version to be released in 2007.Further reading
English
*Vicente Leñero : the novelist as critic / Danny J Anderson., 1989
*The Mexican novel comes of age / Walter M Langford., 1971
*Antiheroes : Mexico and its detective novel / Ilan Stavans., 1997Spanish
*Vicente Leñero / Vicente Leñero., 1967
*Lecturas desde afuera : ensayos sobre la obra de Vicente Leñero / Kirsten F Nigro., 1997
*Vicente Leñero : ensayos sobre su obra dramática / Domingo Adame., 1994References
*"Contemporary Authors Online", Thomson Gale, 2004
* [http://www.epdlp.com/escritor.php?id=2576 Biography on El Poder de la Palabra] . AccessedSeptember 27 ,2005 External links
* [http://www.larevista.com.mx/ed521/5216.htm Interview with La Revista]
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