Germán Espinosa (April 30, 1938 – October 17, 2007) was a Colombian novelist, poet and author born and based in Cartagena, Colombia.[1] He wrote over forty works over the course of his career. He often used his native Cartagena for the backdrop or inspiration for his writings.[1] His historical fiction writings featured such diverse topics as witches, pirates and the Spanish Inquisition.[1]
Espinosa was often called "Gabo sin Nobel," or "Garcia Marquez without the prize" in English.[1] The quote referred to fellow Colombian writer, Garcia Marquez, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.[1]
Espinosa was best know for his 1982 novel "La Tejedora de Coronas" (The Weaver of Crowns).[1] which focuses on the main character, Genoveva Alcocer, and is set in 17th Century Cartagena.[1]
Espinosa once called the city of Cartagena a "city of legends."[1] "Perhaps the legends that arose in my city were the product of the inactivity of the people, since, for so long, almost the entire 19th century . . . there was nothing much to do other than invent, speak, read and remember."[1]
Germán Espinosa died of cancer on October 17, 2007, in Cartagena at the age of 69.
