GUILLERMO SAMPERIO: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS, PHRASES - BIOGRAPHIES - 2025

Guillermo Samperio (1948-2016) was a Mexican writer who developed a wide literary work. In his career he spanned several genres, such as poetry, novels, essays and short stories. His intellectual work made him one of the most relevant authors in his country.

Samperio's work was characterized by the use of expressive and precise language. Humor and the unusual were predominant features in his writings, as well as his vision of life and the world was unique. This intellectual also dedicated himself to teaching courses on literature inside and outside of Mexico.

Guillermo Samperio. Source: kodak camera, via Wikimedia Commons

The most prominent titles of this author were: When touch takes the floor, Ambient fear, Wireless Ventriloquy and Glasses for abstraction. Guillermo Samperio's literary quality gave him worldwide recognition and was included in several anthologies.

Biography

Birth and family

Guillermo Samperio was born on October 22, 1948 in Mexico City into a cultured family and artists. It is known that his father was the musician William Samperio Ruiz, a member of the Tamaulipeco musical group of the Hermanos Samperio. Guillermo was the eldest of six siblings.

Childhood

Samperio and his family went through several difficult times during the writer's childhood. One of the starkest situations was being left homeless because of a bet his father lost at the horse track. The precarious economic situation of the family forced Guillermo to work since he was ten years old.

Studies

Samperio attended primary and secondary studies in his hometown. Music and reading were an important part of his training, influenced by his father's knowledge and experience. At twenty-one years of age, he entered the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN).

At the IPN he was trained in the courses and workshops organized by the writer Juan José Arreola. There he was a student of Andrés González Pagés and began to develop his literary work. Towards 1972 he took a break to join the political life of his country.

Back to writing

Guillermo returned to writing after his political experience. In 1973 he opted for a scholarship at the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA) and obtained it. At first some of his stories were to be published by the INP, however the production process was stopped.

First publications

It was in 1974 when the writer managed to publish his book of stories When tact takes the word, thanks to the help of INBA. With that work he made himself noticed and then made known Any Saturday. At that time his literary career took off.

Awards stage

Guillermo Samperio's particularity and effectiveness as a writer quickly led him to win awards. In 1976 he was awarded in the Poplar Museum contest for "Still Life". The following year he published Miedo ambiente and was recognized with the Casa de las Américas Prize for this work.

Museo Universitario del Chopo, where the award was presented to Guillermo Samperio in 1976. Source: GAED, via Wikimedia Commons

Other activities of the writer

Samperio also showed an interest in storytelling and production. He participated in the radio programs: Noticiero Cultural and La Literatura Hoy. He stood out as editor, literary advisor and head of the literature department of the National Institute of Fine Arts.

Collaborations in print media

The literary skills of the storyteller opened the doors to him in various print media in Mexico. So he collaborated with several newspapers and magazines, including: El Heraldo Ilustrado, El Gallo Cultural, Play on Words, La Jornada Cultural, Central American Literature Magazine and Fine Arts Magazine.

Samperio online

Guillermo Samperio was an intellectual who used new technologies to promote culture, reading and writing. In addition to having a Facebook profile with more than 3,500 followers, he managed the blog "Tekstos de la Komoda Web". There he published short stories, essays, poetry, microfiction, and prose.

Last years and death

Guillermo Samperio lived his entire life dedicated to writing and spreading cultural values. Among the last books he published were: Beetle Dreams, Sanctuary and Satan, and Juggling Wonders. The writer died on December 14, 2016 in his native Mexico due to respiratory arrest.

Awards and honours

- Chopo Museum Competition in 1976. First place with the story "Still life".

- Casa de las Américas Award in 1977 for the storybook Fear of the environment.

- Medal to the Arts for the Eastern countries in 1985, Prague.

- National Prize for Literary Journalism in 1988.

- Member of the Binational Commission in the Trust for Culture Mexico / USA in 1993 and 1994.

- National Tribute at the Palacio de Bellas Artes for his 25 years as a writer in 1999.

- Instituto Cervantes de Paris Award within the Juan Rulfo 2000 Competition in France.

- Member of the International Microfiction Organization in 2002 from the University of Salamanca, Spain.

- Special Mention by the University of Salamanca, Spain.

- Letterario Nazionale di Calabria e Basilicata Award in 2010 for La Gioconda in 2010.

Palacio de Bellas Artes, where the recognition for his 25 years was given to Guillermo Samperio. Source: Xavier Quetzalcoatl Contreras Castillo

Style

Guillermo Samperio's writings were unique and independent and did not belong to any literary movement. His first publications were characterized by the use of a cultured language mixed with colloquial. In the eighties, his works took a turn and were more expressive and loaded with rarity.

The author had the creativity and ingenuity to combine the genres he developed. It was common to observe a story with rehearsal characteristics, but without losing its story features. On the other hand, he focused on the fictitious and surprising, as well as the ironic and the rhythm of language.

Plays

Stories

Fragment of "Arrived"

Cravings for abstraction

It was the first novel that Samperio published, which was characterized by being subtle and reflective on the subject of existentialism. It was a young researcher who tried to use what he knew about poetry in the technological inventions he created. The work belonged to the science fiction genre.

Fragment

Wireless ventriloquism

This work was perhaps one of the most creative and complex of the Mexican writer. Samperio involved the reader through a structure of disordered metaphors that he himself must put together to understand the actions of the protagonists.

It narrated the life of a professional ventriloquist who, at the same time, was a superior personality or alter ego of the author. The novel developed aspects related to life, the real and imaginary, dreams, creative capacity and artistic consciousness. The woman had a place as muse of art.

Fragment

Fragment of

"In the department of time"

Phrases

- “The word is the principle of touch; touch is the beginning of life. The word is life ”.

- “You know how sentimental women are and Elvira came out of the radicals, you already know her; but I thank her for her caresses on the nights when I was very desperate ”.

- "For women, three hours of delay is equivalent to a burnt rice or a soup that boils for hours and hours until noodle crusts stick to the dish."

- “… Red shoes are the heart of the feet. Red shoes look like the pretty woman… Red shoes are the lips of sensuality ”.

- "I mean that literature arises at the moment in which the written text is read or listened to, while it is stored in the drawer it does not exist."

- “Writing is a necessity; correcting, an obsession, and good literature arises from the union of both: you cannot publish a story without having control over each punctuation mark, each sound, each of its silences ”.

- "The creative block arises mainly from fear."

- “The evolution of literature would not be possible without imitation, there is precisely the advance. First it is imitated, then it is proposed. There is no other way ”.

- “The storyteller never rests. Live to write. When he is not downloading his ideas onto paper, he is observing the world to unravel it and then show it, through stories, to readers ”.

- "The story is a hole in the wall that the author has opened so that readers can peek into a universe."

References

1. Guillermo Samperio. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Lenin in football. (S. f.). Venezuela: Google Books. Recovered from: books.google.co.ve.
3. Guillermo Samperio. (2018). Mexico: Encyclopedia of Literature in Mexico. Recovered from: elem.mx.
4. Clavel, Ana. (2016). The importance of being Guillermo Samperio. (N / a): Millennium. Recovered from: milenio.com.
5. Mexican writer Guillermo Samperio passes away. (2016). (N / a): El Nuevo Herald. Recovered from: elnuevoherald.com.