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Luis Sepúlveda Calfucura

ルイス・セプルベダ・カルフクラ

Luis Sepúlveda Calfucura

Aliases: Luis Sepulveda

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1949-10-04 （Ovalle, Limarí Province, Chile）
Died
2020-04-16 （Oviedo, Asturias, Spain） age 70
Nationality
Chilean
Languages
Spanish, English, German
Residence History
Ovalle / Santiago, Chile → Buenos Aires, Argentina → Uruguay → São Paulo, Brazil → Paraguay → Sweden (temporary exile) → Quito, Ecuador → Hamburg, Germany → Oviedo, Spain

Career

Occupations
Writer, Journalist, Screenwriter, Playwright, Film director, Environmental activist
Active Years
1969-2020
Affiliations
Greenpeace, Alliance Française (theatre), UNESCO (expedition participant)
Memberships
Chilean Communist Party (former affiliation), Simón Bolívar International Brigade (participant), Greenpeace (collaborator/activist)
Influenced By
Novalis (German Romantic), Friedrich Hölderlin, Jorge Enrique Adoum (Ecuadorian writer, friend)
Influenced
A generation of Latin American eco-fiction writers and environmental activists

Education

University of Chile
Theatre production / Faculty of Theatre / Department of Theatre Production
Country: Chile

Awards

Tigre Juan Award (Premio Tigre Juan)
1988
Work: Un viejo que leía novelas de amor (The Old Man Who Read Love Stories)
Organization: Ayuntamiento de Oviedo (Tigre Juan Award organizers)
Result: 受賞
Premio Primavera de Novela
2009
Work: La sombra de lo que fuimos (The Shadow of What We Were)
Organization: Editorial/organizers of Premio Primavera
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Crónica de Pedro Nadie (Chronicle of Pedro Nobody)

1969 Novel

An early novel marking his first steps as a novelist.

Coming of agePolitical and social context
Translations
  • Limited information on English translations

Un viejo que leía novelas de amor (The Old Man Who Read Love Stories)

1989 Novel (fable-like)

A fable-like novel about an elderly man living in the Amazon who finds solace in love stories; it addresses the clash between civilization and nature and critiques environmental destruction.

EnvironmentalismClash of civilization and natureSolitude and empathy
Adaptations
  • [Feature film] The Old Man Who Read Love Stories / Rolf de Heer (2001)
Translations
  • English translation: The Old Man Who Read Love Stories

Mundo del fin del mundo (World at the End of the World)

1989 Novel (eco-novel)

Set in Patagonia, it deals with environmental conflicts, extractivism and indigenous issues.

PatagoniaResource extraction and resistanceRelations with indigenous peoples
Translations
  • Translated into English and other languages

Historia de una gaviota y del gato que le enseñó a volar (The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly)

1996 Children's literature

A children's fable about a seagull and a cat who raises and teaches her to fly; themes of friendship, tolerance and education.

FriendshipDiversity and coexistenceEducation
Adaptations
  • [Animated film] Lucky and Zorba / Enzo D'Alò (1998)
Translations
  • English translation: The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly

La sombra de lo que fuimos (The Shadow of What We Were)

2009 Novel

A novel that reflects on past political struggles, friendship and memory, interweaving political experience with personal stories.

MemoryPolitics and the personalFriendship
Translations
  • Translated into English and other languages

Patagonia Express

1995 Travel writing / Essays

A collection of travel essays on Patagonia and other parts of Latin America, noted for its reflections on nature and people.

TravelNature observationRegional cultures

Bibliography

  • Crónica de Pedro Nadie (1969)
  • Los miedos, las vidas, las muertes y otras alucinaciones (1986)
  • Cuaderno de viaje (1987)
  • Mundo del fin del mundo (1989)
  • Un viejo que leía novelas de amor (1989)
  • La frontera extraviada (1994)
  • Nombre de torero (1994)
  • Al andar se hace el camino / Patagonia Express (1995)
  • Historia de una gaviota y del gato que le enseñó a volar (1996)
  • Historias marginales (2000)
  • La sombra de lo que fuimos (2009)

Adaptations

  • Lucky and Zorba (animated film, 1998)
  • The Old Man Who Read Love Stories (feature film, 2001)
  • Vivir a los 17 (film, 1986)

Translations of Works

  • Un viejo que leía novelas de amor → English: The Old Man Who Read Love Stories
  • Historia de una gaviota y del gato que le enseñó a volar → English: The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly
  • La sombra de lo que fuimos → Translated into English and other languages

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Concise, lyrical proseAllegorical and symbolic narrationEssayistic travel and nature observation
Recurring Motifs
Patagonia and frontier natureExile, movement and travelIndigenous peoples and multiculturalismCritique of environmental destructionFriendship and human solidarity

Health

  • COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019)
    2020-03 to 2020-04
    Tested positive in March 2020, was placed on assisted ventilation and intensive care, died in April 2020.

Legacy

Luis Sepúlveda was a leading voice in Latin American environmental and travel literature. Through works that engage Patagonia, indigenous peoples and exile experiences he advocated for environmental protection and social issues. He wrote across genres—from children's literature to adult novels and film scripts—and was widely translated and read in Europe and Latin America.

In Popular Culture

  • His children's story and novels were adapted for film and animation (e.g. Lucky and Zorba), increasing his visibility in popular culture.
  • Referenced in environmental advocacy and conservation discussions concerning Patagonia.

Trivia

  • Mother was of Mapuche descent.
  • Imprisoned and tortured during the Pinochet dictatorship in the 1970s and subsequently went into exile.
  • Worked as a crew member for Greenpeace in the 1980s and remained active in environmental causes.
  • Won the Tigre Juan Award in 1988 for The Old Man Who Read Love Stories.
  • Died in 2020 from complications related to COVID-19.