GIOVANNI QUESSEP: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS - BIOGRAPHIES - 2025

Giovanni Quessep (1939) is a Colombian writer and poet whose work is one of the most influential in his country. The poetry of this intellectual was not framed within any literary movement, but remained unique and persistent during the time in which Nadaism tried to convulse the literature of the 20th century.

Although Quessep's literary work was free and did not conform to any current or style, it had certain symbolist features. The poet was in charge of creating imaginary and dreamlike environments based on reality. The poems of this author stood out for being reflective in relation to the humanity of man and his evolution over time.

Giovanni Quessep. Source: antologiacriticadelapoesiacolombiana.com

Giovanni Quessep's poetic production is not broad, but it is sufficient and deep to be considered one of the most important writers in Colombia. His most prominent titles have been: After paradise, Being is not a fable, Madrigals of life and death and A garden and a desert. His literary performance has earned him some awards.

Biography

Birth and family

Giovanni Quessep Esguerra was born on December 31, 1939 in the town of San Onofre, in the department of Sucre in Sincelejo. The writer comes from a cultured family, of a middle socio-economic class and of Lebanese descent. Data on his parents are scarce.

Studies

Giovanni Quessep attended his first years of studies in the institutions of his native city. Then he and his family moved to Cartagena fleeing the conflict that broke out between liberals and conservatives in 1949. There he continued his secondary education and began to be interested in literature.

Some time later, the young Quessep moved to Sincelejo where he completed high school and deepened even more in his taste for poetry. Later, he began studies of philosophy and letters at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá.

Then the poet made a specialization in Latin American literature at the Instituto Caro y Cuervo.

First post

Quessep's preparation in the literary field was constant, while he studied at university he attended various workshops at the Universidad de los Andes and at the National Library. After immersing himself in Spanish literature, the writer published his first work After Paradise in 1961.

Giovanni made it clear with After Paradise that his poetry would not adhere to any literary movement. The work was characterized by following the traditional rules of the academy and by respecting the qualities of the sonnet in terms of rhyme and meter.

Stay in Italy

Quessep's passion for literature and poetry led him to travel to Italy in 1966. While there, the writer studied Italian and Latin American literature at the University of Florence. At that time he released El ser es un fable (1968), his second book.

The publication of the aforementioned work consolidated Giovanni as an author capable of recreating his own world of poetry. Being is not a fable was a thoughtful and profound book in relation to the origin of the human being. The poet endowed it with dreams, symbolism and legends.

Returns to Colombia

Giovanni Quessep returned to Colombia in 1969 after spending three years in Europe. Soon, the poet joined the labor field as a professor at the Universidad Javeriana. At the same time, the intellectual continued with the development of his literary work.

Quessep published three important works in the decade of the seventies, which were: Duration and Legend, Song of the Foreigner and Madrigals of Life and Death.

Other tasks

Giovanni's writing profession led him to collaborate in various print media in his country. The poet participated in the creation of the Golpe de Dados magazine, and also wrote for Pluma, Mundo Nuevo, Casa Silva Magazine, El Urogallo and Gaceta de Colcultura.

On the other hand, Quessep worked at the Universidad del Cauca in the Department of Spanish and Literature from 1982 to 2003, in this last year he retired. In 2015 he won the René Char World Poetry Prize and is currently active in writing.

Awards and honours

- Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Cauca in 1992.

- National Poetry Prize "José Asunción Silva" in 2004.

- IX National Poetry Prize of the University of Antioquia in 2007. Award given in recognition of his literary work.

- René World Poetry Prize in 2015.

Style

The literary work of Giovanni Quessep has been characterized by not belonging to any movement, being a poetry with a very own and original style. The writer has used a cultured, emotional and expressive language, and has given his verses a reflective and sometimes philosophical character.

The main theme of Quessep's poetic production has been man and his entire existence. The poet approached humanity from its relationship with time and brought it closer to the unknown and unimaginable.

Isotype of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Quessep's house of studies. Source: Javeriana, via Wikimedia Commons

Giovanni has also written to love and the end of life. Symbolism is an essential element in the work of this Colombian intellectual.

Plays

- Abyss revealed (2017).

Fragments of some of his poems

Diamond

"If I could give you

the light that is not seen

in a deep blue

Of fishes. If I could

give you an apple

without the lost Eden, a sunflower without petals

nor compass of light

to rise, drunk, to the evening sky;

and this blank page

that you could read

how to read the clearest

hieroglyph…".

Madrigal of death

"Very close is your heart

to find the autumn leaves

maybe a golden time reigns

through the abysses.

Maybe deadly oblivion

be the purest enchantment

and even the unpronounceable rose

arrive flying.

… Maybe the dust will transform you

on the unknown moon

and someone gets lost and does not return

under that moon ”.

References

1. Giovanni Quessep. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Giovanni Quessep. (2017). Colombia: Banrepcultural. Recovered from: encyclopedia.banrepcultural.org.
3. Rivera, L. (S. f.). The Poetics of Giovanni Quessep. Colombia: Editorial Universidad del Cauca. Recovered from: unicauca.edu.co.
4. Giovanni Quessep. (S. f.). Cuba: EcuRed. Recovered from: ecured.cu.
5. Giovanni Quessep. (S. f.). (N / a): A Media Voz. Recovered from: amediavoz.com.