Luis Zapata Quiroz (27 April 1951 – 4 November 2020) was one of the most prominent

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

writers in

Mexican literature Mexican literature stands as one of the most prolific and influential within Spanish-language literary traditions, alongside those of Spain and Argentina. This rich and diverse tradition spans centuries, encompassing a wide array of genres, ...

.Robert Aldrich and Garry Votherspoon, ''Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History Vol. 2: From World War II to the Present Day''. p. 460.

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research and Dovepress. It i ...

, 2001. .

Career

Born in

Chilpancingo Chilpancingo de los Bravo (commonly shortened to Chilpancingo; ; Nahuatl: Chilpantzinco ()) is the capital and second-largest city of the Mexican state of Guerrero. In 2010 it had a population of 187,251 people. The municipality has an area of ...

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

, on 27 April 1951, Luis Zapata studied French literature at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM). In addition to his novels (most famously, ''El vampiro de la colonia Roma'', 1979), he also wrote plays and short stories and was active in the field of cultural journalism. He was also a specialist translator of

medieval French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

. Zapata died in Mexico City on 4 November 2020, after being hospitalized in Morelos a month earlier.Fallece escritor Luis Zapata, autor de ‘El vampiro de la Colonia Roma

Select Novels

* ''Hasta en las mejores familias (Even in the Best of Families)'', 1975 * ''

El vampiro de la colonia Roma ''El vampiro de la colonia Roma'' (English: ''The Vampire of Colonia Roma'') is a novel by Mexican writer Luis Zapata Quiroz. Some critics consider it to be the definitive work of LGBT literature in Mexico. Its publication inspired a change in di ...

(Adonis Garcia, A Picaresque Novel)'', 1979 * ''De pétalos perennes (Perennial Petals)'', 1981 * ''Melodrama'', 1983 * ''En jirones (In Tatters)'', 1985 * ''La hermana secreta de Angélica María (Angélica Maria's Secret Sister)'', 1989 * ''¿Por qué mejor no nos vamos? (Why Don't We Just Leave?)'', 1992 * ''La más fuerte pasión (The Strongest Passion)'', 1995 * ''Los postulados del buen golpista'', 1995 * ''Siete noches junto al mar'', 1999 * ''La historia de siempre (The Same Story As Always)'', 2007 * ''Escena y farsa es la vida'' (2014) * ''Como sombras y sueños'' (2014) * ''Autobiografía póstuma'' (2014)

References

1951 births Mexican male novelists 20th-century Mexican male writers 21st-century Mexican male writers Gay novelists Mexican LGBTQ novelists 2020 deaths Writers from Guerrero National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni {{Mexico-writer-stub