Emilio Díaz Valcárcel (January 29, 1929 – February 2, 2015) was an acclaimed Puerto Rican writer who won several awards. He addresses numerous social issues in his novels, short stories, and plays.

Biography

Díaz Valcárcel was born in

Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico Trujillo Alto (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Northern Coastal Plain, on the boundary between the karst zone and Sierra de Luquillo, north of Caguas, and Gurabo; southeast of San Juan, and west of Carolina. Trujil ...

. At the age of twenty he was recruited by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and sent to the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, an experience that would leave a mark on a large part of his work. He later worked as a film screenwriter in the

Puerto Rican Division of Community Education The Puerto Rican Division of Community Education (Spanish: ''División de Educación de la Comunidad'', DIVEDCO) was an agency established in 1949 with the purpose of producing cultural materials for public education on the island of Puerto Rico. L ...

and as a copywriter. He directed the cultural magazine ''Cupey'' and served as Professor of Language and Literature at the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

, from where he retired in 1995. He founded the Narrative Workshop of the

Institute of Puerto Rican Culture The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture ( es, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña), or ICP, for short, is an institution of the Government of Puerto Rico responsible for the establishment of the cultural policies required in order to study, preser ...

and the Department of Spanish of the Faculty of General Studies from the University of Puerto Rico.

Literary works

Díaz Valcárcel is part of a group of Puerto Rican writers that emerged with great force in the mid-twentieth century and that includes figures such as José Luis González,

Pedro Juan Soto Pedro Juan Soto (July 11, 1928 - November 7, 2002) was a Puerto Rican writer, activist, and playwriter who is known for inspiring Puerto Rican Independence in his novels and short stories. In his stories, he depicts the life of people living in P ...

and

René Marqués René Marqués (October 4, 1919 – March 22, 1979) was a Puerto Rican short story writer and playwright. Early years Marqués was born, raised and educated in the city of Arecibo. He developed an interest in writing at a young age and was p ...

."Biography of Emilio Díaz Valcárcel."
''thebiography.us'', retrieved May 11, 2021. His literary work has been the subject of studies and doctoral theses by university students inside and outside of Puerto Rico, as well as part of his work has been translated into different languages. He received multiple tributes and recognitions by different universities and cultural organizations both in Puerto Rico and abroad. His literary work has been awarded by institutions such as the

Ateneo Puertorriqueño The Ateneo Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican Athenaeum), is a cultural institution in Puerto Rico. Founded on April 30, 1876, it has been called Puerto Rico's oldest cultural institution, however, it is actually its third oldest overall and second c ...

, PEN Club de Puerto Rico, Institute of Puerto Rican Literature, and the 2002 National Prize for the Arts awarded by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture for a life dedicated to cultural endeavors. He has several books of short stories and among his novels the following stand out: ''Figuraciones en el mes de marzo'', finalist for the 1971 Seix Barral Brief Library Award, which entered Puerto Rico in the "boom" of Spanish-American literature; ''Hot Soles in Harlem''; ''My Mom Loves Me''; ''The Man who Worked on Monday''; and ''Laguna y Asociados''.

Publications

Fiction

* ''El asedio y otros cuentos''. Mexico City: Ediciones Arrecife, 1958. * ''Proceso en diciembre''. Madrid: Ediciones Taurus, 1963. * ''El hombre que trabajó lunes''. Mexico City: Era, 1966. * ''Figuraciones en el mes de marzo''. Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1972. * ''Harlem todos los días''. Rio Piedras: Ediciones Huracán, 1978. * ''Mi mamá me ama''. Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1981. * ''Taller de invenciones''. Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Cultural, 1993. * ''Laguna y asociados''. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor, 1999. * ''Cuentos completos''. Editorial Alfaguara, 2002. * ''El dulce fruto''. Guaynabo, P.R.: Alfaguara, 2007. * ''El tiempo airado''. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Editorial Isla Negra, 2014.

Non-fiction

* ''La visión del mundo en la novela: ''Tiempo de silencio'', de

Luis Martín-Santos Luis Martín-Santos Ribera (11 November 1924 – 21 January 1964) was a Spanish psychiatrist and author of ''Time of Silence'', often cited as one of the most important Spanish novels of the twentieth century. Biography Martín-Santos was bo ...

''. Río Piedras: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1982.

Translations

* ''Hot Soles in Harlem''. (Translation of ''Harlem todos los días'' by Tanya T. Fayen.) Pittsburgh: Latin American Literary Review Press, 1993. * ''Schemes in the Month of March''. (Translation of ''Figuraciones en el mes de marzo'' by Nancy A. Sebastiani.) New York: Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, 1979.

Awards and honors

* 2002 National Prize for the Arts awarded by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Díaz Valcárcel, Emilio 1929 births 2015 deaths United States Army personnel of the Korean War People from Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican writers Puerto Rican dramatists and playwrights Puerto Rican male short story writers Puerto Rican short story writers Puerto Rican male writers United States Army soldiers University of Puerto Rico faculty 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century short story writers 20th-century American male writers