FERNANDO SOTO APARICIO: BIOGRAPHY AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Fernando Soto Aparicio (1933 - 2016) was an outstanding Colombian writer, poet, screenwriter, and teacher known for capturing historical and social realities in his works, as well as his criticisms of Colombian and Latin American culture in order to make his readers reflect.

His most famous work is the one entitled La rebellión de las ratas, which allowed him to obtain the Selecciones Lengua Española award in 1962. Through this work, Soto Aparicio captures the injustice and the reality of the social inequalities of the peoples.

Fernando Soto Aparicio (on the right). CabetoAZ, from Wikimedia Commons

He stood out for writing novels and poetry, as well as a large number of essays, articles for the Colombian press, short stories, children's literature, theater texts and soap opera scripts for television. Soto Aparicio wrote around 56 books of various literary genres and approximately 500 speculative and literary articles.

Today his literary works remain valid, since he evokes the living testimonies of the Colombian reality and the painful history of America.

Biography

Early life and youth

Fernando Soto Aparicio was born on October 11, 1933 in the municipality of Socha, Boyacá, Colombia. However, his family moved to the Santa Rosa de Viterbo municipality, Boyacá, when he was a newborn, where he was raised and spent part of his youth.

Soto began his basic studies until fourth grade of primary school to dedicate himself fully to writing. At the age of 15 he published his first poem entitled Himno a la Patria published in a Colombian newspaper.

For diplomatic reasons he had to leave for a time to France where he worked with UNESCO. When he returned to Colombia, he settled permanently in Santafé, Bogotá.

In his youth he already had several literary productions and in addition to that, he also worked in journalism, writing some opinion articles for the Colombian press. On the other hand, he wrote numerous soap opera scripts and series for television.

Soto had a fascination for seeing his works on television, so each novel or script was written thinking of seeing them produced on the small screen. He also taught at the Nueva Granada Military University in Bogotá.

Fernando Soto Aparicio never wrote by hand, but rather tried to keep up with the technology of the moment, so he learned to write on a typewriter and later on a computer.

Topics

Fernando Soto Aparicio's works are varied in genre; however, they mainly evoke narrative and poetry. His works are characterized by addressing historical and social conflicts in Colombia, and are based on a denunciation of violence, injustice, social inequalities, labor exploitation and industrialization.

In addition, he became a researcher, analyst, and critic of the armed conflict in Colombia, the subject of which was addressed in many of his works. Soto Aparicio himself considered himself a spokesman who recounts reality within a mute society.

The intention of Soto Aparicio at the time of writing and writing the works was the permanence and validity in time of his themes, not only in Colombia, but in the rest of the world. His poetry is usually warm and tends to be used to exemplify certain social themes.

Also, it is a poetry that evokes sentimentality, love, anger, irony and certain touches of black humor; Despite this, tenderness and hope are the key characteristics of his literary work. Others of the subjects that it tackled is her devotion to Colombian women and machismo.

For the most part, his works end with an open ending due to Soto's invitation to the reader's reflection.

Last post and death

Fernando Soto Aparicio fell ill with cancer and spent several years fighting not to put aside his passion for writing; in the heat of illness he wrote his last work titled Bitácora de un agonizante. Through that work, he narrated all his illness and what he lived practically until the day of his death.

A close friend of Soto Aparicio affirmed that one of the writer's last wishes was his longing to be buried in his hometown, specifically in the Central Cemetery of Santa Rosa de Viterbo. Soto was characterized by being a faithful nationalist and regionalist.

On May 2, 2016, Fernando Soto Aparicio died of gastric cancer at the age of 82 at a clinic in Bogotá, Colombia.

Awards

In 1960, he won his first international award in Popayán with his novel Los aventureros. The following year he won the long-awaited Spanish Language Selections award with his work La rebellión de las ratas.

Later, in 1970, he was awarded a prize in the literature competition by the Casa de las Américas in Cuba and won the Ciudad de Murcia Prize in 1971.

On the other hand, Soto died hoping to win the Nobel Prize for Literature; in fact, he affirmed that Colombia and the world were indebted to him for not granting him recognition.

Plays

The blessed

Los bienaventurados is a work by Fernando Soto Aparicio published in 1960. This work gave him the opportunity to receive the Nova Navis Prize in Spain in 1969, allowing him to be recognized internationally.

The play tells the story of a family that moves to a large cosmopolitan city, after the deplorable and violent situation that they lived in a rural area.

Rise of the Rats

The Rage of the Rats is an outstanding novel written by Fernando Soto Aparicio in 1962, this being one of his first titles as a writer. With this work, Soto managed to establish himself as one of the best Colombian novelists of the XXI century.

The play tells the story of a peasant named Rudecindo Cristancho, who arrives with his family in the fictional town of Timbalí, in Boyacá, with the hope of having a better quality of life for his family and a better job.

Having no money or a place to live, the family settled in a garbage dump. When Rudecindo finally got a job in a coal mine, he began to suffer from labor exploitation coupled with deplorable working conditions.

Trying to put a stop to the abuse within his work, he tried to form a union and a rebellion against his bosses. The novel ends in a tragic ending as the owners of the company murder him in a vile way, leaving his family helpless.

Review of Rise of the Rats

The novel is part of a violent and testimonial story in which the terrible living conditions of the poor are reflected. Soto's intention with this work is to reflect the abuse of foreign companies towards peasants or people of low social class.

At the same time, the play reflects the feelings of justice on the part of the workers when they rebel against the abuse and exploitation of their bosses. Soto himself had worked in a Paz del Río coal mine, Colombia, so he knew the procedures and realities of such jobs.

While it's raining

While it rains has been considered one of the most recognized works of Fernando Soto Aparicio for addressing one of the topics that for him have been most exciting: injustices towards women.

It is a play that tells the story of a woman who is wrongly convicted of the murder of her husband. Throughout the play, Soto Aparicio emphasized injustice on the part of a macho society, revenge, and freedom.

With this work, Soto reflects again a cruel reality, but this time from a prison. Other issues addressed is prostitution, as well as intelligence and hope to be able to solve complicated situations.

Funerals of america

Los funerales de América is a novel by Soto Aparicio published in 1978, which aims to make the reader reflect on social transformations. Today it is a work that remains valid, since it touches on a conflict that has been difficult to solve: the guerrilla.

In fact, it is a reflective work that seeks to make comparisons with the reality that currently exists in many countries of the world.

It tells the story of a group of guerrillas with ideals in defense of the peoples, of the poor with the insistence of changing societies. More than once the Colombian writer commented on the exploits of the novel in relation to the guerrillas of today.

Soto Aparicio infallibly criticized today's guerrilla groups for their terrorist and criminal activities.

Letters to Beatriz

Cartas a Beatriz was a telenovela, the script of which was written by Fernando Soto Aparicio and produced on Colombian television in 1969. The production was made by RTI Televisión and directed by Luis Eduardo Gutiérrez. Soto managed to write a total of 100 chapters.

The telenovela was carried out by the nationalized Argentinean Colombian Julio César Luna, Raquel Ercole and Rebeca López with the role of the antagonist. The plot of the soap opera is based on a man who falls in love with a married woman, having to write letters to express her love.

Thanks to this production, Soto Aparicio managed to win the El Espectador award for best screenwriter.

References

1. Fernando Soto Aparicio, Writers.org Portal, (2017). Taken from writers.org
2. Fernando Soto Aparicio, the author who “rebelled” against social injustice, has died, writing of El Heraldo, (2016). Taken from elheraldo.co
3. Fernando Soto Aparicio He stated while alive that he wanted to be buried in his homeland, Boyacá, drafting of Caracol Tunja, (2016). Taken from caracol.com.co
4. Soto Aparicio, with the usual social rebellion, Róbinson Quintero Ruiz, (2016). Taken from magazines.elheraldo.co
5. Fernando Soto Aparicio, Wikipedia in Spanish, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org