Alfredo Bryce Echenique (born February 19, 1939) is a Peruvian writer born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

. He has written numerous books and short stories.

Early days

Bryce was born to a Peruvian family of

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...

, related to the Scottish-Peruvian businessman John Weddle Bryce (1817 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

– 9 March 1888), ancestor of the Marquesses of Milford-Haven and of the Duchesses of Abercon and

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. He was the third son and the fourth of the five children of the banker Francisco Bryce Arróspide and his wife, Elena Echenique Basombrío, granddaughter of the former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

José Rufino Echenique. Bryce studied elementary education at Inmaculado Corazón school, and high school at Santa María school and Saint Paul's College, a British boarding school for boys in Lima. Upon the wish of his family, Bryce Echenique studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

National University of San Marcos The National University of San Marcos ( es, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, link=no, UNMSM) is a public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. It is considered the most important, recognized and representative educ ...

, where he obtained his degree in 1964. His literary interest nevertheless prevailed and so, shortly afterwards, he completed a parallel

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in literature with a

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

on Ernest Hemingway in 1963. In 1988 he adopted Spanish nationality without losing his Peruvian one.

Literary career

He received a grant from the French government which, like many other

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

authors of the '' boom period'', led him to Paris in 1964. At the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

he studied classic and contemporary

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than F ...

for one academic year. Between 1965 and 1966 he subsequently lived in Peruggia, Mykonos and Germany, where he moved to study German thanks to a grant from the Goethe-Institut. Bryce returned to France and taught Spanish in a school at Le Maurais from 1967 to 1968. This year, he published his first book ''Huerto Cerrado'' and the next year became a lecturer of Latin American literature at Paris Nanterre University and since 1971 at the Sorbonne. In 1970 he had been published '' A World for Julius''. In 1972 he was awarded the Peruvian National Prize for Literature and in 1973 he entered as an assistant lecturer to the University of Vincennes (Paris VIII). A few years later in 1975, Bryce received a Guggenheim grant and obtained a master's degree in comparative literature from Vincennes. In 1977, he returned to Peru and received his doctoral degree from San Marcos University with a thesis on Henri de Montherlant. In 1980 he moved to Montpellier, where he entered the Paul Valéry University as a professor. In 1984, Bryce settled down in Spain living first in Barcelona and since 1989 in Madrid. In 1997, he returned to Peru, where he currently lives. His first book ''Huerto Cerrado'' published in 1968, was a finalist for the ''Casa de las Américas'' literary prize awarded in Cuba and is a collection of short stories written in different styles and points of view about a young protagonist, Manolo, a member of Lima's upper class, as he comes of age in 1950s Lima. This was followed by his first novel, ''Un Mundo para Julius,'' published in 1970 that became a big success and counts today as one of the classics of

Latin American literature Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of the Americas. It rose to particular prominence globally during the ...

. The novel, which has since been translated into ten languages, tells the story of a young boy who grows up as the youngest of four children of a rich, Peruvian upper-class family. Although Julius actually belongs to the ruling classes he feels a stronger bond with the servants which surround him and this brings him into conflict with his family. With biting irony the author exposes, through the eyes of a child, the great social differences in Peruvian society.

Recent successes

''Un mundo para Julius'' marks for Bryce Echenique the start of an extremely productive literary career, in which he has until today written nearly twenty novels and story volumes. "I am an author of the second half of the 20th century." Despite this declaration and his spatial and temporal closeness to other Latin American authors of the ''boom generation'', Bryce Echenique keeps a conscious distance from his colleagues who he sometimes refers to as "nouveau riche". That his style, as one critic once said, corresponds more to an ironic than a magic realism, is also shown by the author in one of his latest novels: ''La amigdalitis de Tarzán'' from 1999. Largely in the form of letters, the novel relates the story of the hindered romantic relationship between a poor Peruvian troubadour and the daughter of an influential Salvadoran family. Similar to his heroes, Alfredo Bryce Echenique also lived for decades far from his home city of Lima to which he only returned in 1999. Also that year he was granted an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

by the

Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos The National University of San Marcos ( es, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, link=no, UNMSM) is a public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. It is considered the most important, recognized and representative educ ...

Claims of plagiarism

In March, 2007, Peruvian Diplomat Oswaldo de Rivero wrote an article for the newspaper El Comercio of Lima, Peru accusing Bryce of writing an article "Potencias sin poder" that was an almost exact copy of one written by de Rivero in the magazine "Quehacer" in March, 2005. Bryce responded saying the article had been submitted in error by his secretary. Juan Carlos Bondy subsequently found evidence that Bryce had earlier plagiarized the article "Amistad, bendito tesoro" by Ángel Esteban that had appeared in

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Na ...

of Argentina in December, 1996. Bryce has also been accused of plagiarizing articles by

Graham E. Fuller Graham E. Fuller (born November 28, 1937) is an American author and political analyst, specializing in Islamist extremism. Formerly vice-chair of the National Intelligence Council, he also served as Station Chief in Kabul for the CIA. A "thin ...

and Herbert Morote. Journalism professor María Soledad de la Cerda found sixteen other instances of plagiarism which were found as a result of research for her course in investigative journalism.El Mercurio
/ref>

Bibliography

Novels

* Un mundo para Julius (English version: A world for Julius), 1970 * Tantas veces Pedro, 1977 * La vida exagerada de Martín Romaña, 1981 * El hombre que hablaba de Octavia Cádiz, 1985 (Along with the last forms a

diptych A diptych (; from the Greek δίπτυχον, ''di'' "two" + '' ptychē'' "fold") is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world w ...

called: Cuaderno de navegación en un sillón voltaire) * La última mudanza de Felipe Carrillo, 1988 * Dos señoras conversan (thee novelettes), 1990 * No me esperen en Abril, 1995 * Reo de Nocturnidad, 1997 * La Amigdalitis de Tarzán (English version:

Tarzan's Tonsillitis Tarzan's Tonsillitis (original title: ''La amigdalitis de Tarzán'', 1999) is an epistolary novel from the Peruvian writer Alfredo Bryce. Plot summary

It is about the romance between Fernanda and Juan Manuel del Carpio. It tells how life can p ...

, an

epistolary novel An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...

), 1998 * El huerto de mi amada, 2002 (Winner in 2002 of the

Planet Award A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...

)

Story books

* Huerto Cerrado, 1968 * La felicidad, ja ja, 1974 * Magdalena peruana y otros cuentos, 1988 * Guía triste de París (English version: A sad tour of Paris), 1999

Chronicles

* A vuelo de buen cubero, 1977 * Crónicas personales, 1998 * A trancas y barrancas, 1996 * Crónicas perdidas, 2001 * Doce cartas a dos amigos, 2003

Memoirs

* Permiso para vivir - Antimemorias I, 1993 * Permiso para Sentir - Antimemorias II, 2005

Essays

* Entre la soledad y el amor, 2005

Awards

Casa de las Américas Prize The Casa de las Américas Prize (''Premio Literario Casa de las Américas'') is a literary award given by the Cuban Casa de las Américas. Established in 1959, it is one of Latin America’s oldest and most prestigious literary prizes. The award ...

for ''Huerto cerrado'' (accessit), 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 ascended to Official of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 1984 and 1995 * Commander of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

, 1993 * Order of the Sun (rejected) * Dag Hammarskjöld Peace Prize, 1997 * National Literature Prize for Narrative of Spain for ''Reo de Nocturnidad'', 1998 *

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad ho ...

from San Marcos University, 1999 * Commander of the Order of Alfonso XII of Spain, 2000 *

Grinzane Cavour Prize The Grinzane Cavour Prize (1989–2009) was an Italian literary award established in 1982 by Francesco Meotto. The annual award ceremony took place in the medieval castle of Grinzane Cavour. The goal of the prize was to attract young people to re ...

for ''Tarzan's Tonsillitis'', 2002 * Premio Planeta de Novela for ''El huerto de mi amada'', 2002 * FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages, 2012

Notes

External links

Portrait of Alfredo Bryce Echenique
by Braun-Vega (1983) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryce, Alfredo 1939 births Living people Peruvian people of Scottish descent Peruvian people of Spanish descent University of Paris alumni Peruvian novelists Peruvian male writers Peruvian male short story writers National University of San Marcos alumni Recipients of the Order of the Sun of Peru Male novelists Writers from Lima Peruvian expatriates in France