Vicente Leñero (1933-2014) was a Mexican writer, journalist, playwright, academic and civil engineer who stood out for developing a prolific literary work full of naturalness and precision. This author covered genres such as the novel, the short story, the theater and the essay.
The most predominant features of Leñero's work were a clear and precise language, accompanied by spontaneity and subtlety in the narrative, qualities that gave his texts a pleasant and attractive tone. The particularity of his work made him one of the most widely read intellectuals in Mexico.
The most outstanding publications of Vicente Leñero were: A mixed bag, Feelings of guilt, More people like that, The bricklayers, The journalists, The drop of water, The angel's visit Y How soon it gets late. The writer's literary work has earned him several awards, including: the National Science and Arts Award and the National Journalism Award.
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Vicente Leñero Otero was born on June 9, 1933 in the city of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco. He came from a cultured, middle-class family and his parents were Vicente Leñero and Isabel Otero. From a young age, Leñero was instilled with the love of letters and reading, orientations that early prepared his path as a writer..
Leñero studied his first years of academic training in his hometown. When he finished high school, he went to the capital of the country to study civil engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), but around that time he began to be interested in literature and fell behind in his career..
He managed to graduate as an engineer and immediately began journalism studies at the Carlos Septién García School of Journalism. The young Vicente graduated at the age of twenty-three in 1956, and from then on he made writing his greatest passion. In 1959, the nascent writer released his first publication The dust and other stories.
Vicente Leñero began his professional career as a journalist in various print media in his country. Worked for the magazine Sign and many of his writings were published on the pages of newspapers Excelsior Y The Herald of Mexico. In the early sixties, the Centro Mexicano de Escritores gave him a scholarship to further his literary career.
The Mexican writer had the opportunity to publish his first novel in 1961, which he titled Sore voice. With this writing, Leñero proved to be a realistic and at the same time sensitive author, he described with psychological depth the experiences of a patient with metal disorders.
The sixties were quite productive for Leñero, he published five novels and also wrote several essays and newspaper articles. In 1967 he was awarded the Guggenheim scholarship and in 1968 he began his production as a playwright with Rejected people.
Leñero's professional career continued in constant growth and creativity. At the beginning of the seventies he dedicated himself to producing librettos for the theater, from this activity works such as: The bricklayers, The tent Y Sánchez's children, based on the ethnographic work of the North American anthropologist Óscar Lewis.
At that time the playwright also published the play The trial: León Toral's jury and mother Conchita. In journalism, in 1976 Vicente participated in the creation of the magazine Process and served as deputy director for more than two decades.
Leñero was not satisfied with being a novelist, short story writer, journalist and playwright, but his taste for writing also led him to be a screenwriter. So in 1973 he ventured into the seventh art with the film The monastery of the vultures, and from that date to 2010 he wrote eighteen scripts.
The last two decades of the life of this Mexican intellectual were spent dedicated to his journalistic and literary work. The cinema, theater and social media of his country were the main witnesses of his talent and intellectual capacity.
His most recent posts were: The life that goes away, Living from the theater, Terminal Dramaturgy and The attack. Vicente Leñero's life ended on December 3, 2014 in Mexico City, when he was 81 years old..
- Short Library Award in 1963.
- Mazatlán Prize for Literature in 1987.
- Juan Ruiz de Alarcón National Prize for Literature in 1992.
- Fernando Benítez National Prize for Cultural Journalism in 1997.
- Xavier Villaurrutia Award in 2000, for the work The innocence of this world.
- National Prize for Literature and Linguistics in 2001.
- Mayahuel de Plata in 2007.
- Salvador Toscano Medal in 2008.
- Sinaloa Literature Award in 2009.
- Fine Arts Medal in 2011.
- Carlos Septién García National Journalism Award in 2010.
Vicente Leñero's literary style was characterized by the use of simple, precise language and sometimes with touches of irony and sarcasm. His works had a realistic character and were developed in depth and managed to reflect the reality of Mexican society from its various nuances..
His subjects were varied, he wrote about life, religion, chess, theater and literature itself, always from the fun and attractive. His simplicity and good humor when recounting made him win a wide audience, both nationally and internationally.
The dust and other stories (1959).
It was composed of the following stories:
- "Dirt road".
- "Wallet".
- "The perfect adventure".
- "Nothing".
- "Pity".
- "Who killed Agatha Christie?".
- "Drama of a little man who could not read One Hundred Years of Solitude ".
- "The sad night of Raquel Welch".
- "The loaded".
- "Arreola: chess lesson".
- "The tour".
- "And let the earth tremble at its center".
It was made up of the following stories:
- "The dust".
- "Rage".
- "Dirt road".
- "The dust".
- "The dead bricklayer".
- "San Tarsicio".
- "Next September".
- "Pity".
- "Pink Zone".
The work was made up of the following stories:
- "The penalty".
- "Self-portrait".
- "Wallet".
- "The cigar".
- "Nothing".
- "The perfect adventure".
- "Who killed Agatha Christie?".
Composed by:
- "Flashbacks".
- "Guilty feeling".
- "Stanley Ryan".
- "Piece touched".
- "The day that Carlos Salinas".
- "Where did I put my glasses?".
- "Reading Graham Greene".
- "Maybe it's on the cover".
- "It is not a lack of affection".
- "They are robbing an old man!".
- "Hallowed be thy name".
- "A certain Juan Rulfo".
- "Touch of sacrifice".
- "Revenge".
It was made up of the following stories:
- "The range".
- "Of literature".
- "Injuries and applause for José Donoso".
- "In the O'Henry way".
- "The novel of the young Dostoevsky".
- "The four hundred years of Hamlet".
- "Resentment".
- "Dear Oscar Walker".
- "The Topalov opening".
- "Chess players".
- "Twins".
- "Hotel Ancira".
- "Cajón de Alfonso Sastre".
- "The minimal and poor Tomás Gerardo Allaz".
- "Full moon".
- "The death of Iván Illich".
- "Belen".
- Parables. The narrative art of Jesus of Nazareth (2009).
Integrated to:
- "The grapes were green".
- "Holy war".
- "Wounded by love, wounded".
- "The yellow scarf".
- "Mother there is only one".
- "Who killed Agatha Christie?".
- "Plagiarism"
- "The meetings".
- "The death of the cardinal".
- "Enigma of the doodle".
- "Cruise".
- "Footnotes".
- "The crime".
- "Four loves in the square".
It was made up of:
- "Smoking or non-smoking".
- "To the harassment of Marcos".
- "Funeral prayers".
- "Yuliet".
- "The Devil's Locker".
- "Manual for sellers".
- "Capablanca's chess".
- "Tomorrow my father is going to die".
- "The crush".
- "The little thorn of Alfonso Reyes".
- "The night of Rayo López".
- "Queen Federika".
- Sore voice (1961).
- The masons (1964).
- Study Q (1965).
- The squiggle (1967).
- By dint of words (1967). It was the definitive edition of Sore voice.
- Sheep pen (1972).
- Journalists (1978).
- The Gospel of Lucas Gavilán (1979).
- Water's drop (1983).
- Murder. The double crime of the Flores Muñoz (1985).
- life that goes (1999).
- Early autobiography (1967).
- Trip to cuba (1974).
- Live from the theater (1982).
- Jorge's steps (1989).
- Live from theater II (1990).
- Full body (1992).
- Ay, Jalisco (1993).
- The insurgent theater (1993).
- Lottery, buddies portrait (nineteen ninety five).
- Live from the theater (2012).
- Write about theater (2013).
- The right to cry and other reports (1968).
- The pink zone and other reports (1972).
- Journalism Handbook (1986). Developed jointly with Carlos Marín.
- Journalistic talacha (1989).
- Emergency journalism (2007). It was a new edition of Journalistic talacha augmented and restructured.
- Rejected people (1969).
- The masons (1970).
- The trial: León Toral's jury and mother Conchita (1972).
- The move (1980).
- The white nights (1980).
- The angel's visit (nineteen eighty one).
- Martyrdom of Morelos (nineteen eighty one).
- Instrumental theater (nineteen eighty one). It included the works The judgment, mate Y Rejected people.
- They will fight ten rounds (1985).
- Jesus Christ Gomez (1986).
- Do you remember Rulfo, Juan José Arreola? (1987).
- Hell (1989). Paraphrase of "Hell" of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.
- Ms (1989).
- Theater three (1989). Integrated to: Jesus Christ Gomez, Martyrdom of Morelos Y Nobody knows anything.
- The night of Hernán Cortés (1992).
- A long time ago. Piece in one act (1994).
- They will fight ten rounds, the sons of Sánchez Y Nobody knows anything (1994).
- The losers. Seven short works on sports themes (nineteen ninety six).
- How soon it gets late (1997).
- Terminal dramaturgy. Four works (2000). Composed of: "Avaricia", "Long ago", "Don Juan in Chapultepec" and "We are all Marcos".
- Complete theater I (2008). Made up of twelve theatrical pieces.
- Complete theater II (2008). Made up of eleven plays.
- Righteous for sinners. Three movie scripts (1982). Composed of: "The bricklayers", "Life imprisonment" and "Assassination".
- Miroslava (nineteen ninety five).
- The alley of miracles (1997).
- The cordoncito (1997).
- Rejected people (1968).
- The masons (1969). It was premiered on June 27, 1969 at the Antonio Caso Theater in the Mexican capital, it was directed by Ignacio Retes.
- Co-worker (1970).
- Carp (1971).
- The trial (1972). Composed by León Toral's jury Y Mother Conchita.
- Sánchez's children (1972).
- The move (1979).
- Alicia maybe (1980).
- The white nights (nineteen eighty one).
- The angel's visit (nineteen eighty one).
- The martyrdom of Morelos (nineteen eighty one).
- They will fight ten rounds (nineteen eighty one).
- Do you remember Rulfo, Juan José Arreola? (1986).
- Ms (1986).
- Jesus Christ Gomez (1987).
- Nobody knows anything (1988).
- Hell (1989).
- So long ago (1990).
- The night of Hernán Cortés (1992).
- We are all Marcos (nineteen ninety five).
- The losers (nineteen ninety six).
- That soon it is getting late (nineteen ninety six).
- Don Juan in Chapultepec (1997).
- The monastery of the vultures (1973). Written jointly with the director Francisco del Villar.
- Crying turtle (1975).
- The masons (1976). Developed in conjunction with Luis Carrión and Jorge Fons.
- The ones below (1978).
- Life imprisonment (1978).
- When spiders weave (1979). Script developed jointly with Francisco del Villar and Fernando Galiana.
- The great waters (1980). Written jointly with the director of the film Servando González.
- Mariana, Mariana (1987). Based on the narrative work The battles of the desert by José Emilio Pacheco.
- Miroslava (1993).
- Love that kill (1994). Screenplay written with Patricia Sentíes and Javier González.
- The alley of miracles (nineteen ninety five).
- Herod's law (1999).
- The blue room (2002).
- The crime of Father Amaro (2002, directed by Carlos Carrera and nominated for an Oscar).
- The move (2003). Written with Gabriel Retes.
- Locked out of heaven (2006).
- Alabaster woman (2006).
- The attempt (2010). Based on the novel The file of the attack by Álvaro Uribe.
- “All writers what we do when writing novels is to reinvent and tell our own lives, for that we invent characters. Reality helps you to say what you feel ".
- “Dramaturgy is enduring. The theater is ephemeral ".
- "The journalist is not called to solve crises, he is called to say them".
- “I don't like stories to end, not in movies, not in literature, not in life. There always has to be more possibilities, more ways, more answers ".
- "Irony is the best weapon that the journalist and the writer have".
- “I recognize that the best thing about me is not my imagination. I can't think of original stories ".
- “Journalism and literature have been my purifying forces. Camus has a lapidary phrase: 'When the mystery ends, life ends'. I take it as a personal warning ".
- "At some time I wanted to write my scripts to find a director, but all directors, or almost all directors in Mexico and in the world have their own story".
- "Love of that one, as a young man, who is content with pure illusion and who is becoming great with absence".
- "Reality makes one write more interesting stories than one can imagine".
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