Onelio Jorge Cardoso

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Onelio Jorge Cardoso (Calabazar de Sagua, Cuba; May 11, 1914 - Havanna, Cuba; May 29, 1986) was a Cuban short fiction writer.

[edit] Biography

Onelio Jorge Cardoso was born on May 11, 1914 in Calabazar de Sagua, Cuba. He was unable to complete his high school studies due to his family's economic problems, employing himself in different trades to support his family. One of these was as a traveling salesman, a job that allowed him to get to know different places and people within Cuba and that would serve as models for the setting and characters of several of his stories. He started writing at a young age, winning a short story writing constest in 1936. However, it was not until 1945 when he became known by winning the "Alfonso Hernández Catá" constest with a story entitled Coalmen (Los carboneros). In 1945 he publishes in Mexico his first book, Taita, you tell me how (Taita, diga usted cómo). In 1948 he settled in Havanna working as a news editor in 1010 kHz AM radio station and writing screenplays as well for commercial radio stations. He, furthermore, worked as editor in chief for Cine-Revista newsreel. He was awarded the National Award of Peace for his story Scrap Iron (Hierro viejo). He published his second book in 1958, The storyteller (El cuentero).

After the Cuban Revolution, he became Director of the Institute of Music Copyrights, Chief of Special Articles of Granma, and Chief Editor of Pueblo y Cultura and Pionero magazines. He was also a documentary screenwriter for the Cuban Institute or Cinematographic Arts. In 1961 he joined the executive department of the literary section of the Association of Cuban Writers and Artists.