Francisco Coloane


Francisco Coloane Cárdenas was a Chilean novelist and short fiction writer whose works have been translated into many languages. Some of his books were adapted to theatre and film.

Biography

He was born in Quemchi, Chiloé Province, on the southern Chilean island of Chiloé, and his literary career expanded from Perros, Caballos y Hombres in 1935 to the publication of his memoirs Los Pasos del Hombre in 2000.
Among his most famous works are: La Tierra del Fuego se Apagó, Golfo de Penas, El Camino de la Ballena, El Guanaco Blanco, and El Corazón del Témpano.
Coloane was awarded the Premio Nacional de Literatura in 1964. In 1997, he was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Republic, where he won considerable notoriety for his work in the 1990s.
Coloane was an active member of the Communist Party of Chile for most of his adult life, and a lover of nature who celebrated his 89th birthday by swimming in the freezing waters of the Pacific Ocean – which in his opinion kept him "vital and active".
Miguel Littín's movie, Tierra del fuego, is based on a work by Coloane.
Following his death, the Chilean government recognized him as a central figure of 20th-century Chilean literature.

Selected works