Arturo Arias (born 1950) is a Guatemalan novelist and critic. His early life was marked by the overthrow of democracy in 1954, and the ensuing military dictatorships and civil rebellions. These experiences, along with a visit to refugee camps on the Guatemala-Mexico border in 1982, sparked his dedication to peoples and Indigenous rights and inspired his scholarly research.

Career

Arias is a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur professor of 20th-century Spanish-American Literature at the

University of California, Merced The University of California, Merced (UC Merced or colloquially, UCM) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Merced, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of ...

. He has taught courses specializing in: Central American literature; Indigenous literatures; social and critical theory; race, gender and sexuality in post-colonial societies; cultural studies, and ethnographic approaches. Arias previously taught at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

, the

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university in Redlands, California, United States. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Calif ...

in Southern California, and the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, where he was the Tomás Rivera Regents Professor in Spanish Language and Literature. He is a past president of the

Latin American Studies Association The Latin American Studies Association (LASA) is the largest association for scholars of Latin American studies. Founded in 1966, it has over 12,000 members, 45 percent of whom reside outside the United States (36 percent in Latin America and the ...

. He holds a PhD in Sociology of Literature, from L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes Paris, France. (1978) Arias has held several prestigious fellowships—the Guggenheim (John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation), the Hood (University of Auckland) and the Martha Sutton Weeks (Stanford Humanities Center)--as well as distinguished visiting posts at Princeton,

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

, and the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. Arias has published numerous novels, as well as scholarly books and journal articles, in English and Spanish. He received the

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 his novel ''Itzam Na'' (1981), the Anna Seghers award for his novel ''Jaguar en llamas'' (1990), and the Casa de las Américas prize in essay for his book ''Ideología, Literatura y Sociedad durante la Revolución Guatemalteca, 1944-1954'' (1979). In 2008, he was honored with the Miguel Angel Asturias National Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature in his native

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. His books in English include ''Recovering Lost Footprints: Contemporary Maya Narratives. Volumes 1 and 2,'' ''The Rigoberta Menchú Controversy,'' ''Taking their Word: Literature and the Signs of Central America,'' ''After the Bombs,'' and ''Rattlesnake.''

Works of Fiction in Spanish

Short Stories

* ''En la ciudad y en las montañas.'' Guatemala City: Impresos industriales, 1975.

Novels

* ''Después de las bombas''. Guatemala City: F&G Editores, 1979. * ''Itzam Na.'' Havana: Casa de las Américas, 1981. * ''Jaguar en llamas:'' Guatemala City: Editorial Cultura, Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes'',''1989. * ''Los caminos de Paxil.'' Guatemala City: Editorial Cultura, Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes'','' 1991. * ''Cascabel.'' Guatemala City: Artemis & Edinter, 1998. * ''Sopa de caracol.'' Guatemala City: Santillana, 2002. * ''Arias de don Giovanni.'' Guatemala City: F&G Editores, 2010. * ''El precio del consuelo.'' Guatemala City: F&G Editores, 2017.

List of works in English

Novels translated into English

*. Trans. Asa Zatz. *Arias, Arturo (2003), ''Rattlesnake,'' Willimantic, CT: Curbstone Press Trans. Sean Higgins and Jill Robbins. (spy thriller)

Scholarly books in English.

*. * *Arias, Arturo (2018).'' Recovering Lost Footprints: Contemporary Maya Narratives. Volumes 1 and 2.'' SUNY Press.

Awards

Anna Seghers Anna Seghers (; born ''Anna Reiling,'' 19 November 1900 – 1 June 1983), is the pseudonym of German writer Anna Reiling, who was notable for exploring and depicting the moral experience of the Second World War. Born into a Jewish family and mar ...

Prize 1990 for his novel ''Jaguar en llamas'' *Academy Award Nomination 1985 for Best Original Screenplay (El Norte); co-writer *

1981 for his novel ''Itzam-Na'' *

1979 for his essay ''Ideologías, literatura y sociedad durante la revolución guatemalteca 1944-1954'' *Miguel Angel Asturias National Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature 2008 *

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

2020

References

Arturo Arias - Academic Biography

Arturo Arias - John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Guatemalan novelists Guatemalan male novelists Latin Americanists Living people 1950 births {{Guatemala-writer-stub