Alfredo Bryce Echenique facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alfredo Bryce Echenique
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Bryce in 2007
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| Born | Alfredo Bryce Echenique February 19, 1939 Lima, Peru |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | National University of San Marcos |
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Alfredo Bryce Echenique (born February 19, 1939) is a famous Peruvian writer from Lima. He has written many popular books and short stories. His stories often explore themes of identity, memory, and the lives of people from different backgrounds.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Alfredo Bryce Echenique was born into a well-known family in Lima, Peru. His family had connections to important people, including a former President of Peru.
He went to school in Lima, attending Inmaculado Corazón and Santa María schools. He also studied at Saint Paul's College, a British boarding school.
His family wanted him to study law at the National University of San Marcos. He finished his law degree in 1964. However, Alfredo was more interested in writing. So, he also earned a degree in literature in 1963, writing about the famous author Ernest Hemingway. In 1988, he also became a Spanish citizen, but he kept his Peruvian citizenship too.
His Journey as a Writer
Starting in France
In 1964, Alfredo received a special scholarship from the French government. This allowed him to move to Paris, France. Many other writers from Latin America also moved to Paris around this time.
At the Sorbonne, he spent two years studying classic and modern French literature.
Traveling Through Europe
After his time in Paris, Alfredo traveled more. Between 1965 and 1966, he lived in places like Peruggia, Mykonos, and Germany. He even studied German in Germany with a scholarship from the Goethe-Institut.
Back to France and First Books
Alfredo returned to France and taught Spanish from 1967 to 1968. In 1968, he published his first book, Huerto Cerrado. The next year, he started teaching Latin American literature at Paris Nanterre University. By 1971, he was teaching at the Sorbonne.
In 1970, his first novel, A World for Julius, was published. This book became very successful and is now considered a classic in Latin American literature.
Recognition and Return to Peru
In 1972, Alfredo received the Peruvian National Prize for Literature. He continued teaching at the University of Vincennes (Paris VIII). In 1975, he received a special grant called a Guggenheim grant. He also earned a master's degree in comparative literature.
In 1977, he returned to Peru. He completed his doctoral degree at San Marcos University.
Living in Spain
In 1980, he moved to Montpellier in Southern France to teach at the Paul Valéry University Montpellier 3. Later, in 1984, Alfredo moved to Spain. He lived in Barcelona first, and then in Madrid starting in 1989. In 1997, he returned to Peru, where he lives today.
His first book, Huerto Cerrado, is a collection of short stories. They are about a young boy named Manolo growing up in Lima in the 1950s. His novel, Un Mundo para Julius, tells the story of a rich boy named Julius. Even though Julius is from a wealthy family, he feels closer to the servants. This creates problems with his family. Through Julius's eyes, the author shows the big social differences in Peruvian society.
Later Works and Achievements
Un mundo para Julius was just the beginning of Alfredo Bryce Echenique's very busy writing career. He has written nearly twenty novels and many story collections.
He once said, "I am an author of the second half of the 20th century." He likes to keep his own unique style, which is often described as "ironic realism" rather than "magic realism." This means his stories are realistic but also have a clever, funny, or surprising twist.
One of his later novels, La amigdalitis de Tarzán (1999), shows this style. It tells the story of a difficult romance between a poor Peruvian musician and the daughter of a powerful family from El Salvador. The story is mostly told through letters.
Like his characters, Alfredo Bryce Echenique lived away from his home city of Lima for many years. He finally returned in 1999. That same year, he received an honorary degree from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.
Accusations of Copying
In 2007, Alfredo Bryce Echenique faced accusations of copying parts of other people's articles. A Peruvian diplomat, Oswaldo de Rivero, claimed that one of Bryce's articles was very similar to one he had written earlier. Bryce said it was a mistake by his secretary.
Later, other people found more instances where his articles seemed to have parts copied from other writers. A journalism professor, María Soledad de la Cerda, found several examples during her research.
Awards and Honors
Alfredo Bryce Echenique has received many awards for his writing:
- Casa de las Américas Prize for Huerto cerrado, 1968
- Peruvian National Prize for Literature for A World for Julius, 1972
- Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (finalist), 1974
- Prix Passion, 1984
- Chevalier and later Official of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 1984 and 1995
- Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, 1993
- Dag Hammarskjöld Peace Prize, 1997
- National Literature Prize for Narrative of Spain for Reo de Nocturnidad, 1998
- Doctor Honoris Causa from San Marcos University, 1999
- Commander of the Order of Alfonso XII of Spain, 2000
- Grinzane Cavour Prize for Tarzan's Tonsillitis, 2002
- Premio Planeta de Novela for El huerto de mi amada, 2002
- FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages, 2012
See also
In Spanish: Alfredo Bryce Echenique para niños
- Peruvian literature
- List of Peruvian writers
