The Guatemala International Book Fair (Filgua) will begin next July and more and more activities and special guests are known.
Without a doubt, one of the most emotional moments is remembering the writers and artists who have passed away during the last year.
By 2026, tribute will be paid to three figures who marked the history of Guatemalan letters and arts: the authors Luis Aceituno and Francisco Alejandro Méndez, as well as the plastic artist Arnoldo Ramírez Amaya.
Luis Aceituno
Luis Aceituno He was born in Antigua Guatemala in 1958. He was a writer, journalist and full member of the Guatemalan Academy of Language, corresponding to the Royal Spanish Academy, since 2019. He died on December 8, 2024.
A year after his death, in December 2025, the book was presented The suitcase man and the last yearsa compilation of columns and writings by Luis Aceituno corresponding to his last five years of production. The compilation was in charge of the writer Gloria Hernández, 2022 National Literature Prize winner and the author’s partner. The title takes the name of a play that Aceituno wrote in his youth.
A review of the life of Luis Aceituno
Luis Antonio Aceituno Solórzano was born in Antigua Guatemala on August 30, 1958. He died on December 8, 2024, at the age of 66.
He took office as a member of the Guatemalan Academy of Language on April 25, 2019, with the speech José Milla y Vidaurre, our contemporary.
columnist in elPeriódico for years, its space Side B It became required reading on literature, politics and national culture.
He was the author of Heaven’s Gate (1982) and The dirty years (1994, with revised edition in 2018), in addition to The day John Lennon was killed and other b-side stories (2010, republished in Spain in 2013).
A charismatic professor in communication, journalism, film and literature, he trained several generations of students.
Francisco Alejandro Mendez
“Literature is my life,” he said the year he Francisco Alejandro Méndez received the National Literature Prize in 2017.
On Saturday, March 28, 2026, around 9 p.m., his death was confirmed. Information on the cause of his death is awaited.
The writer was born on November 27, 1964 and died on March 28, 2026, at the age of 61.
Career of Francisco Alejandro Méndez
- Unique Story Prize in the Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa contest, at the level of Central America and Mexico, in 1992
- Single Prize of the Carlos Benjamín Paiz Ayala Annual Cultural Journalism Contest, in 1994
- He completed a doctorate in Letters from the National University of Costa Rica
- He has a specialization in Contemporary Literature from the University of Louisville, Kentucky
Arnoldo Ramirez Amaya
One of the references of Guatemalan art, Arnoldo Ramírez Amaya, “El Tecolote” died on March 27, 2026, at the age of 81, and left a legacy in the country’s plastic arts thanks to his work in painting and sculpture.
The plastic artist was born on November 26, 1944 and was known for his murals in the Ciudad Universitaria de la Usac. Likewise, he stood out in areas such as writing and is considered one of the most imaginative and prolific artists in the country.
He studied at the Adolfo V. Hall Institute and at the Polytechnic School; He then joined the National School of Plastic Arts in the 1960s, where he quickly stood out. His talent led him to be co-founder and active member of the magazine Eavesfrom the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, in 1970.
It was in 1973 when Arnoldo Ramírez Amaya painted various murals at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala, in which he expressed the military repression experienced at that time, according to newspaper data from Prensa Libre.
Among his works in the T2 building of the University City is a proposal made in collaboration with artists from the Otto René Castillo Brigade.
His talent led him to represent Guatemalan visual artists in Liege, Belgium, by presenting an engraving work. His creations allowed him to project himself internationally, with exhibitions in London, Belgium, Chile and France, among other countries.
His time in the classrooms took him to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he taught graphic design. His work was classified by critics as that of one of the most talented cartoonists in Guatemala.
Arnoldo Ramírez Amaya ventured into areas such as drawing, painting, sculpture and caricature; He even delved into using digital technology for his art.
Titles like The singing of the Tecolote, The surviving bird, Memoirs of an Assassin’s Apprentice and Palic Chirachic They are part of the books he developed.