There is a great diversity of Peruvian authors ,  representatives of one of the most important and varied literatures in Latin America. This literature encompasses the production of works in the pre-Hispanic era, which is why some are in the Quechua language, which were translated and disseminated thanks to other authors. In this article we will impart you the information about the Famous Peruvian authors.

In addition, it includes those carried out during the Colony, following the process of Frenchification, emancipation and republic, until the s. XX. Thanks to this, it is possible to find a series of important authors who have been in charge of highlighting the cultural legacy of the country.

They have also highlighted the indigenous heritage and the political environment through different literary formats such as novels, poetry, essays, newspaper articles and children’s stories.

Today the importance of Peruvian authors is recognized, with the literature of that country being one of the most admired expressions worldwide.

Famous Peruvian authors and their most important works

Mario Vargas Llosa 

Born in Arequipa on March 28, 1936, he is recognized as one of the most important authors in Peru and Latin America, having a prose that exalts the social and political problems of his environment.

His works have earned him a series of international recognitions, such as the Prince of Asturias Award (1986), the Rómulo Gallegos Award (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010.

It was made known thanks to the book  The city and the dogs (1962), which is based on the author’s personal experiences in the community of the Leoncio Prado Military School, in Callao, Peru.

Likewise, La casa verde also stands out , which focuses on the story of a woman expelled from a convent to become the most famous prostitute in Piura.

Also excel  Pantoja and the Special , Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter and warfare to the world and The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto .

Julio Ramón Ribeyro

He was one of the great Peruvian storytellers from the generation of the 50s, who also made works in other literary genres such as novels, journalistic essays and even plays.

Among his works, Los gallinazos sin feathers stands out, a narrative focused on the life of the neighborhoods of Lima, and whose protagonists are a couple of children who are forced to collect waste under pressure from their grandfather.

It is worth highlighting the story  Alienación , which is the narration of the life of Roberto, a black boy who wants to turn white to conquer a woman.

Other compilations of his stories are  Tales of Circumstances , The Bottles and the Men , Three Revolting Stories and Silvio in El Rosedal .

Cota Carvallo 

She was also known as Carlota Carvallo. He has a variety of works to his credit, including poems, plays, newspaper articles, short stories, and paintings. In fact, she is considered one of the first female artists in Peru.

In addition to his pictorial work —important thanks to the fact that it elevates the indigenous cultural component—, Carvallo published the books  The role of children’s literature , A memory of the painter Enrique Camino and School theater pieces .

It is believed that there is also a set of unpublished works in which he talks about his children through a series of diaries that he wrote throughout his life.

Mariano Melgar

He was a Peruvian poet and independence fighter who stood out for a series of works focused on indigenous songs and stories of popular origin. Some specialists indicate that Melgar is one of the most important figures of Peruvian literary Romanticism.

He died at the age of 24 and did not leave a solid work, until his nephew, Manuel Moscoso Melgar, made a compilation of the letters, poems and sonnets in the book Poesías , in 1878.

It was expanded in a 1971 edition, where a greater number of songs and material by the author were collected.

Ciro Joy

He was a Peruvian writer and journalist, mostly recognized for a prose marked by indigenous awareness in the country. His work focused on highlighting the difficulties, shortcomings, and problems of these groups in a series of narratives known as “land novels.”

Among his works, La Serpent de Oro stands out , the author’s first novel that tells the story of a group of rafters “cholos” found in the jungle area of ​​Peru, at the same time that he recounts the experience of Osvaldo Martínez, an engineer who enter this environment in order to take advantage of the resources found there.

Cesar Vallejo 

This Peruvian poet and writer is considered one of the most innovative and important authors in Latin American literature, whose early works highlight the religious due to his training during childhood and adolescence.

His most acclaimed work, Los heraldos negros , is a collection of poems published in 1919 that contains a series of verses that explore pain, anguish and existentialism.

According to critics, it is from this point that Vallejo began to develop a personal and avant-garde style for the time.

Jose Watanabe

Renowned Peruvian poet of Japanese descent. Watanabe also produced works in other formats, such as film scripts, children’s stories, and documentaries. Similarly, he exalted his affinity for Japanese culture through haiku, a genre of Japanese poetry.

One of his most famous poems is Antígona, published in 2000, as a free version of Sophocles’ tragedy.

Carlos Augusto Salaverry

Salaverry was a Peruvian playwright and poet, also an important figure during the literary Romanticism that developed in the country.

That is why it can be said that his work is characterized by being intimate with a certain erotic nuance. In fact, some experts have also come to compare him with the Spanish poet Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer.

Among his poetic works is Letters to an Angel , from 1871, considered one of the most successful, romantic and erotic works of that time. The most famous poem in this book is “Remember me!”

Ricardo Palma

Palma is considered one of the most prolific and important authors in Peru, thanks to a work in which satires, dramas, criticisms, chronicles, poems and essays stand out. In fact, he is a renowned author both in the country and in Latin America.

Among his extensive work, he undoubtedly highlights Peruvian Traditions , short stories that combine the story and the chronicle of historical events that seem to denote the different incidents that occurred during the colonial era.

Abraham Valdelomar

This author, noted for his storytelling-type narrative work, also stood out as a poet, journalist, essayist and playwright. He began his career as a cartoonist, to later stand out as an author.

One of Valdelomar’s most important works is El caballero Carmelo , published in 1913, whose plot is about Caballero Carmelo, a fighting cock who must face a younger one.

It should be noted that the story, told in the first person, also portrays the life of the inhabitants of the town of San Andrés. Today it is called “the most perfect story in Peruvian literature.”