Interview to Francisco Proaño Arandi The Goal Was to Create in the Reader an Anguishing Sensation in the Face of Reality

Abstract

This dialogue between writer Francisco Proaño Arandi (José María Arguedas Latin American Award, Havana 2010) and articulate critic and essay writer Alejandro Moreano, is an appraisal of the formative years of the writer, the 1960s, the tzanticos group, the appearance of the Bufanda del sol magazine, and the Cultural Front in Quito. Looking back, Proaño recreates the moments of what was the political and literary debate of those
years, the influence of the Cuban Revolution, the ideas and proposals of philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre’s commitment, the anti-colonialist struggles in Africa, May ’68 and its influence over the world’s youth, Latin American boom writers, his experience as a diplomat in several governments and processes in Ecuador during the 80’s and 90’s. The writer also makes an account of his narrative universe, his obsessions, the presence of a city
like Quito in his novels and short stories, as well as his thoughts about the complex couple relationships he renders through his characters. This dialogue not only meant the encounter of two writers of the same generation but of two friends who have shared the same vital passion for writing.