Santiago Páez Gallegos

Start by mixing together: the study of law in Quito; a PhD in Communication from Spain; and a fascination with anthropology. Add to this eclectic mix living in varied communities—warm buggy days and deep black nights in the coastal Manglars of Esmeraldas getting to know fisherman, or warmed by a strong sun high in the Andes Mountains, projecting himself into the minds of passersby while roaming the narrow cobblestoned streets of the old city of Quito, his home.  Lastly initiate a writing career during nights of insomnia while waking up multiple times to bottle feed a baby son.  No surprise, the writings of Ecuadorian author, Santiago Paéz are as complex and varied as his influences.

For example, only Paéz’ intricate imagination could invent Inspector Suasnavas. Both snickering and horrified the intrigued reader follows the Inspector as he, obedient to his commander’s orders, confidently concludes that a dismembered body died by suicide. Intrigued—read “The Reticent Suicide” and get to know the Inspector, a protagonist like no other. In addition to the police novel, Paéz’s wide-ranging works include science fiction, children’s literature, as well as analytical pieces. Santiago Paéz fuses ancestral archetypes with futuristic visions and blends popular genres with uniquely Ecuadorian perspectives to create a rich body of literature both universal and at the same time distinctively Ecuadorian.

(Biography by Paula Weiss)

A sample of his work available online, in English:

The short story, “The Reticient Suicide,” (live link, translated by Harry Morales).

Literary Criticism (live link):

New Worlds Collide: Science Fiction’s Novela de la Selva in Gioconda Belli and Santiago Páez, by Vaughan Anderson, PhD,Maryville University of Saint Louis, Missouri.