Enrique Lafourcade

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Enrique Lafourcade

Enrique Lafourcade is a Chilean writer, critic and journalist who was born in Santiago, Chile, on October 14, 1927.

[edit] Brief biography

Representative of the so-called “Generation of the 50’s”, a term suggested by Lafourcade himself in 1954 to describe authors born between 1920 and 1934 who began to flourish in the 1950’s and broke apart in content and style from the previous regional style known as “criollismo”; and more widely within the “boom generation” in Latin America, a generation of writers who produced an explosion of works in the mid 20th century and decades that followed, which included four Nobel Prize winners (Miguel Angel Asturias in 1967, Pablo Neruda in 1971, Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1982, Octavio Paz in 1990) and several other influential intellectual authors such as Jorge Luis Borges in Argentina and Mario Vargas Llosa in Peru.

As a writer, Lafourcade has published at least 24 novels and over a dozen anthologies and collections of short stories and essays. His novel Palomita Blanca (1971) allegedly sold over a million copies, making it one of the all time best sellers in Chile. This novel was translated to several languages and brought to the screen by Chilean-French director Raúl Ruiz. Lafourcade’s latest novel, El Inesperado (2004), imagines the life of French poet Arthur Rimbaud in Africa, and though a work of fiction, it is inspired by the letters of the poet and three years of additional research. The novel was launched on October 20, 2004, matching the 150th anniversary of the birth the poet.

Self-described as “a sentimental anarchist and catholic in a state of wilderness”, it is as a journalist and critic that Lafourcade is best known. For years he has written an editorial for the newspaper “El Mercurio” (the largest in the country), focusing on literature but with incursions into politics, cultural issues and subjects of impact upon the nation. Some of his most critical articles, written in an often mordant style, have produced the ire of dictators and politicians in Chile and other Latin American countries and occasionally generated diplomatic apologies.

He has appeared in numerous television programs, both as guest and as part of recurring panels of cultural critics. His ironic and often sarcastic style as well as his impudent way of offering opinions on just about everything and everybody has more than once produced a commotion in the country, making “Lafourcade” a household name in Chile. Numerous anecdotes surround his name, including engaging in a fist fight with another journalist during a live television program. For some time he wrote a gastronomic review under the name of “Conde de Lafourchette” (“fourchette” meaning “fork” in French) in the journal El Mercurio, where he gave his uncensored opinion about restaurants and their food, reason for which he is feared by restaurant owners across the country. Allegedly, servers are instructed to call upon the owner or general manager as soon as they see Lafourcade walking in.

He has publicly declared himself an “unrelenting enemy of ignorance and incompetence.” He is believed to have just as many enemies as he has friends, to the point that for years rumors circulated of a group of people gathering signatures to “expel Lafourcade from Chile”.

He is the father of three children, Dominique, Octavio and Nicole. He is followed, ostensibly, by a family of writers and musicians, where his cultural influence is undeniable. Octavio is a classical musician (lute and guitar), member of the group of ancient Spanish music “Capella de Ministrers”. His daughter Nicole is a poet and literary translator, member of Café Literarte. His brother Gaston is a musician (harpsichord) and his niece, Natalia Lafourcade (Gaston’s daughter), born in Mexico, has become a famous rock pop star.

Lafourcade has been the recipient of various literary awards in his country and twice finalist of the coveted “Novel International Award” by the Spanish editorial Planeta.

[edit] See also

The Dictator Novel

King Ahab’s Feast, Editorial Saint Martin’s Press, Nueva York, USA (translated by Ray Morrison), 1963.
HuLet, CL 1962. Lafourcade Roman à Clef Hispania 45, 67

[edit] Sources

“Memoria Chilena: Portal de la Cultura de Chile” at www.memoriachilena.cl (see, for example: http://www.memoriachilena.cl/mchilena01/temas/index.asp?id_ut=generacionliterariade1950 )

Official website of Enrique Lafourcade at www.enriquelafourcade.cl
Website of Cafe Literarte at www.cabalgata.com (e.g., http://www.cabalgata.com/lafourcade/enrique/biografia.html )

- Archivos del diario “El Mercurio” (paper form) plus El Mercurio Online at www.emol.com