Héctor Abad Faciolince (born 1958) is a Colombian writer, essayist, journalist, and editor who also has Spanish citizenship. He is considered one of the most skilled writers in Latin American literature after the Latin American Boom period. Abad is best known for his popular novel Angosta and, more recently, El Olvido que Seremos (translated as Oblivion: A Memoir).

Background

Héctor Joaquín Abad Faciolince was born and raised in Medellín, Colombia, with five sisters. His parents were Cecilia Faciolince and Héctor Abad Gómez. His father was a well-known doctor, university teacher, and leader in human rights. He believed in a broad approach to healthcare and helped create the Colombian National School of Public Health.

After finishing school at a private Catholic school run by Opus Dei, Abad moved to Mexico City in 1978. His father had been named Cultural Counselor at the Colombian Embassy in Mexico. In Mexico, Abad attended writing and literature classes at La Casa del Lago, a cultural center connected to the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

In 1979, Abad returned to Medellín and studied Philosophy and Literature at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. In 1982, he was removed from the university for writing an article that criticized the Pope. He then moved to Italy and completed studies in Modern Languages and Literature at the University of Turin in 1986. He graduated with the highest honors, called summa cum laude, and his thesis about a novel by Guillermo Cabrera Infante received a special award called "Dignitá di Stampa," which means "worthy of publication."

Abad returned to Colombia in 1987, but that same year, his father was killed by paramilitaries in an event that shocked the country. Abad was threatened with harm and had to return to Europe, first to Spain and then to Italy, where he lived for five years.

While in Italy, Abad taught Spanish at the University of Verona until 1992. He also translated Italian literary works into Spanish. His translations of books by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Gesualdo Bufalino, and Umberto Eco were praised by critics.

After returning to Colombia, Abad became director of the University of Antioquia Journal from 1993 to 1997. He wrote for important newspapers and magazines in Colombia, including Revista Cromos, La Hoja, El Malpensante, Revista Semana, and Revista Cambio, the last of which was co-founded by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez. He also worked as a journalist for El Mundo, El Colombiano, and El Espectador. He regularly writes for Latin American and Spanish publications.

Abad has spoken at universities around the world, including Columbia University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Verona, the University of Turin, the University of Cagliari, the University of Bologna, and the University of Florence. He also taught at the Università del Piemonte Orientale in Vercelli. He received a DAAD fellowship and lived in Berlin from 2006 to 2007. He later returned to Medellín and became editor-in-chief of EAFIT University Press. Since 2008, he has been part of the editorial board of El Espectador, Colombia’s oldest newspaper. In 2014, he was the 31st Samuel Fischer Visiting Professor at the Peter Szondi Institute of Comparative Literature at the Free University of Berlin, where he taught a class called "Literature and Violence." In 2021–2022, he received the Ida Beam Distinguished Visiting Professorship at Iowa University.

In June 2023, Abad was hurt when two Russian missiles hit a café in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, where he was meeting Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina. She later died from her injuries.

Writing

Abad began his writing career when he was very young. At age 12, he wrote his first short stories and poems. At 21, Abad won the 1980 Colombian National Short Story Prize for his story Piedras de Silencio (Stones of Silence), which tells the tale of a miner trapped underground. While living in Italy, he published his first book, Malos Pensamientos (1991). However, he became a full-time writer only after returning to Colombia in 1993.

Abad is part of a group of new Colombian writers, including Santiago Gamboa, Jorge Franco, and Laura Restrepo. His works often explore the narrator’s personality and the act of storytelling, focusing on themes like protection and power.

Malos Pensamientos (1991) is a collection of short stories that describe life in Medellín during the 1980s.

Asuntos de un Hidalgo Disoluto (1994; The Joy of Being Awake, 1996) is inspired by two famous 18th-century books: Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy and Voltaire’s Candide. This story is told by a 71-year-old Colombian millionaire who reflects on his life of excess and his failed ambitions. He shares memories with his younger mute secretary and lover, Cunegunda Bonaventura.

Tratado de Culinaria para Mujeres Tristes (1996; Recipes for Sad Women) mixes fake recipes (like coelacanth or dinosaur meat) with real ones. The book also includes short reflections on sadness.

Fragmentos de Amor Furtivo (1998; Fragments of Furtive Love) uses a structure similar to One Thousand and One Nights. Each night, a woman delays her lover’s departure by telling him stories about her past lovers. The story takes place in Medellín during the 1990s, a city known for extreme violence. Like in The Decameron, the characters Susana and Rodrigo lock themselves in the hills to escape the city’s dangers and share stories to survive.

Basura (2000; Garbage) is one of Abad’s most experimental works. It references writers like Kafka and Pavese, who struggled with anxiety. The story follows a writer, Bernardo Davanzati, who throws his work away. His neighbor finds the texts and becomes a dedicated reader, learning about the challenges of being a writer. The book highlights the act of writing and the role of the reader.

Palabras sueltas (2002; Loose Words) is a book of short cultural and political essays taken from Abad’s newspaper columns.

Oriente Empieza en El Cairo (2002; East Begins in Cairo) is a detailed account of a man’s journey through ancient Egypt. The narrator, traveling with two wives, describes two versions of daily life in a mythical city that reminds him of Medellín.

Angosta (2004) is a fictional story about a city where people are divided into three castes living in separate areas. The book reflects on Colombia’s violent past and includes vivid descriptions of eccentric characters from the ruling class.

El Olvido que Seremos (2006; Oblivion: A Memoir) is a book about Abad’s father, who was killed by paramilitaries. It took Abad 20 years to write this memoir, which tells the story of his father’s fight against oppression and the circumstances of his murder.

Las Formas de la Pereza y Otros Ensayos (2007; The Forms of Laziness and Other Essays) explores the idea that laziness might be a natural human condition, not a weakness.

An extensive list of Abad’s works has been created by Professor Augusto Escobar Mesa from the University of

Publisher

In 2016, he started Angosta Editores, an independent publisher. Four books from this publisher were nominated for the National Novel Award in Colombia: Criacuervo by Orlando Echeverri Benedetti in 2018, Cómo maté a mi padre by Sara Jaramillo Klinker in 2020, Dos aguas by Esteban Duperly in 2020, and Economía experimental by Juan José Ferro in 2024.

Angosta Editores focuses on supporting new writers. The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature says that Angosta Editores is one of many independent publishers in the 21st century that have helped Colombian publishing by supporting new literary voices.

Awards and honors

• In 1980, the author won the Colombian National Short Story Prize for the book Piedras de Silencio.
• In 1996, the author received the National Creative Writing Scholarship from the Colombian Ministry of Culture for the book Fragmentos de Amor Furtivo.
• In 1998, the author was awarded the Simón Bolívar National Prize in Journalism.
• In 2000, the author received the 1st Casa de América Award for Innovative American Narrative for the book Basura.
• In 2004, the book Angosta was named Best Spanish Language Book of the Year by the People's Republic of China.
• In 2006, the author received a fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
• In 2007, the author won the National Book Award from Libros & Letras Latin American and Colombian Cultural Magazine for the book El Olvido que Seremos.
• In 2007, the author was awarded the Simón Bolívar National Prize in Journalism.
• In 2010, the author was honored by Casa de América Latina in Lisboa.
• In 2012, the author received the WOLA-Duke University Human Rights Book Award.
• In 2015, the book La Oculta won the Cálamo Award for Best Book of the Year.