Manuel Mejía Vallejo (23 April 1923 – 23 July 1998) was a Colombian

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

. The specialist Luís Carlos Molina says that Mejía represents the Andean aspect of the contemporary Colombian narrative, characterized by a world of symbols which are little by little being lost in the memory of the mountain. Doctor Honoris Causa of the

National University of Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz ...

. Professor of literature at the National University of Colombia at Medellín, director of the Departmental Printing Press of Antioquia. Born in Jericó, he studied at the Bolivarian Pontifical University and studied painting and sculpture at the Fine Arts Institute of Medellín. He collaborated as a journalist in the newspaper 'El Sol''. He was the creator of Grupo La Tertulia with Gonzalo Restrepo Jaramillo and Jaime Sanín. Between 1949 and 1957 he was exiled in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, and

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...

. In 1978 he was named Director of the Writer's Workshop of the Pilot Public Library of

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

. His 1988 novel ''La casa de las dos palmas'' was awarded the Venezuelan

Rómulo Gallegos Prize The Rómulo Gallegos International Novel Prize ( es, Premio internacional de novela Rómulo Gallegos) was created on 6 August 1964 by a presidential decree enacted by Venezuelan president Raúl Leoni, in honor of the Venezuelan politician and Pres ...

. Many of his books were set in his home area. Vallejo died in El Retiro.

Works

Novels

*''La Tierra éramos nosotros'' (1945), written at the age of 20, published at the request of Grupo Pánidas, coordinated by

León de Greiff Francisco de Asís León Bogislao de Greiff Haeusler (July 22, 1895 – July 11, 1976), was a Colombian poet known for his stylistic innovations and deliberately eclectic use of obscure lexicon. Best known simply as León de Greiff, he often use ...

*''Al pie de la ciudad'' (1958) *''El día señalado'' (1964), Premio Nadal *''Aire de Tango'' (1973) *''Las muertes ajenas'' (1979), Special mention in the Premio Casa de las Américas *''Tarde de verano'' (1981) *''Y el mundo sigue andando'' (1984) *''La sombra de tu paso'' (1987) *''La casa de las dos palmas'' (1988),

, Shown on Colombian television. *''Los abuelos de la cara blanca'' (1991)

Short stories

*Tiempo de sequía (1957) *Cielo cerrado (1963) *Cuentos de zona tórrida (1967) *Las noches de las vigilias (1975) *Otras historias de Balandú (1990) *Sombras contra el muro (1993) *La venganza y otros relatos (1995), Classic Colombian short story. *La muerte de Pedro Canales *Riña de cuatro gallos *Que despierten sus sueños *El hombre vegetal *Aquí yace alguien *El milagro *Los julianes *La guitarra *El cielo cerrado *Miedo *Una canoa bajo el Orinoco *Palo caido *El sitio del agua

Books of poetry

*''Prácticas para el olvido'' (1977) *''El viento lo dijo'' (1981) *''Memoria del olvido'' (1990) *''Soledumbres'' (1990)

References

Bibliography

*TRONCOSO, Marino. ''Proceso creativo y visión del mundo en Manuel Mejía Vallejo. Un acercamiento al proceso cultural antioqueño''. Bogotá, Procultura, 1986. *VARÓN, Policarpo. ''Manuel Mejía Vallejo''. Bogotá, Procultura, 1989.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mejia Vallejo, Manuel 1923 births 1998 deaths Colombian male writers Colombian journalists Male journalists 20th-century journalists Colombian expatriates in Venezuela Colombian expatriates in Guatemala Colombian expatriates in Honduras Colombian expatriates in El Salvador