01 Jan Ecuadorian Science Fiction
[caption id="attachment_15923" align="aligncenter" width="630"] From the graphic novel, "Andean Sky," by Carlos Kwasek (click here for his homepage).[/caption] According to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, to "describe what is being done in the field of science fiction in Ecuador one must consider the early Fantasy literature, then the Scientific Romances of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, continuing to Science Fiction in the present. The roots of science fiction in Ecuador are in Utopian texts written after the arrival of the Spanish in America. In these works myth is mixed with fantasy. The myths of El Dorado, where there are perfect and idyllic cities with buildings made of gold, and the Garden of Eden, are well described in some of the writings of the colonial chroniclers, such as Antonio de León Pinelo's book El Paraíso en el Nuevo Mundo ['Paradise in the New World']." Samples of Ecuadorian science fiction (live links): The short story, "Another Liliput," by Abdón Ubidia. Andean Sky, an interactive science graphic novel, set in Ecuador, by Carlos Villareal Kwasek. The short story, "The IWM 1000," by Alicia Yáñez Cossío, included in The Big Book of Science Fiction. Edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Ann VanderMeer (Penguin Random House, 2016). The first chapter from the novel, Los Improductivos (The Unproductive), by Cristián Londoño Proaño, translated by Lorraine Caputo. The short story, "The Package," by Cristián Londoño Proaño, translated by Joan Gavey, Paula Weiss, and Ricardo Segreda. Short film, "Héroe trabajando," ("Working Hero"), by José Zambrano Brito. Academic essays: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction chapter on Ecuadorian science fiction, written by Ivan Rodrigo. "New Worlds Collide: Science Fiction's Novela de la Selva in Gioconda Belli and Santiago Páez," by Vaughn Anderson, PhD, (Rutgers University). Articles: "A Sci-Fi Vision of Ecuador: Carlos Villarreal Kwasek," from the website, latinorebels.com. "Lenin Paladines: Science Fiction from Ecuador," from the website, globalvoices.org,. ...