About Guillermo Yuscarán

Guillermo Yuscarán (Dr. William Lewis) is an author and artist. After having spent his youth as a native Californian on the Pacific coast of the United States, Guillermo Yuscarán has lived an international adult life.

Before settling down permanently in Honduras in the early 1980’s, Yuscarán earned a PhD in hispanic studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. During the doctoral studies, Yuscarán wrote his dissertation as a Fulbright Fellow in Spain. After the PhD, a teaching and research Fellowship from Tufts University took him to Venezuela, where he worked at the national archives and at Universidad Central in Caracas.

In Honduras, Yuscarán has published numerous books, including fiction, biography, history, travel narratives and poetry. His paintings and wood sculptures have been collected internationally.

You may be interested in watching a tv documentary, in which Yuscarán tells about his life, thoughts, books and paintings. The documentary was produced and directed by Erkki “Eric” Siirila, a Finn who knows both Yuscarán and Honduras well. On Youtube, a ten-minute short version of the film can be found under the name “Zones of Creative Energy, Documentary of Guillermo Yuscarán”. Youtube has also another video presenting Guillermo Yuscarán. Look for “Guillermo Yuscarán interview” by HondurasWeeklyTV.

Several of the stories written by Yuscarán have been broadcast by the BBC Radio in London. One of the Yuscarán books has also been adapted to theater. The theatrical adaptation of Blue Pariah was last time shown as part of the New York International Fringe Festival in 2014. The name of the play was Close to the Bone.

Esteemed Honduran author, Dr. Enrique Aguilar Paz characterizes the texts by Yuscarán as follows: “Yuscarán has become our most modern costumbrista, a true minstrel of the popular spirit. His guitar is the Honduran heart, finely tuned to the truest harmonies of human compassion. He is an artist who makes us realize that the greatest treasure of a nation is the spiritual essence of its people.” (The above comment was translated from the Spanish by Martha Lilia Colindres U.)

An interesting analysis of Yuscarán’s texts can also be found on the pages of A Year of Reading the World (http://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/tag/guillermo-yuscaran/), an internet book blog kept by “London Choir Girl”. She states that “Yuscarán’s direct and often apparently simple style is well-suited to telling the stories of characters who are thwarted by life.” Related to the above and as illustrated by the fifth photo below, Guillermo Yuscarán is a common sight in the marketplaces of Honduras. In this case, he was listening to the stories of a lady who survives by selling fruit, vegetables and flowers in the market of Tela.

As regards Yuscarán’s Velasquez biography, a review (in Spanish) by the late Roberto Castillo, one of Honduras’ most respected writers/ professors, can be read here: http://istmo.denison.edu/n08/articulos/velasquez.html. This excellent summary appeared in literary journals in Mexico and Argentina.

In recent years, Guillermo Yuscarán and his family have divided their time between Santa Lucia, a colonial mining village outside Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, and the port town of Tela on the Caribbean coast. The artwork presented on these web pages has been produced by Guillermo Yuscarán – all rights reserved and copyright (c) 2015 Guillermo Yuscarán / William Lewis. As regards the photos of the artist, the photographer has all the rights, i.e. copyright (c) 2015 Erkki Siirila.

Purchase information (prices and postage) for paintings and sculptures can be obtained by sending an email message to gyuscaran a t yahoo d o t com.

The purchase prices in U.S. dollars for books by Guillermo Yuscarán are listed below:

1. Canto Al Mar (Ode to the Sea) bilingual reflections, 1988…price $10:00, plus postage.
2. Blue Pariah…dog biography in English, 1989. ..price $15.00, plus postage.
3. Conociendo a la gente Garifuna (The Garifuna Story)…bilingual nonfiction, 1990, $12.00 plus postage.
4. Beyond Honduras (Tales of Tela, Trujillo, other places)…short stories, 1991,$ 15.00, plus postage.
5. El Gran Hotel Tela…bilingual historical vignette (few copies)..1991, $10.00 plus postage.
6. Points of Light..short stories in English, 1992, $15.00, plus postage.
7. Northcoast Honduras (Tropical Karma)..short stories in English, 1993., $16.00, plus postage.
8. Velasquez: The Man and his Art….biography in English, 1994. $20.00, plus postage.
9. Gringos in Honduras, (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly).biographies in English, 1995, $18.00, plus postage..
10.Cuando Chona Cantaba (When Chona Sang), bilingual fiction, 1997, $12.00, plus postage.
11. El dia de la cruz (Day of the Cross), 1998 bilingual fiction, $12.00, plus postage..
12.Juan Felix Sanchez (Journey to the Andes), bilingual non fiction narrative, $14.00, plus postage.1998
13.Honduras Behind the Colors (vol 1) autobiographical narrative, 2002. $20.00, plus postage.
14. Velasquez: el hombre y su arte..biography in Spanish, 2003, $20.00, plus postage.
15. La Luz Hondurena..short stories in Spanish, translation of Points of Light,, 2006, $13.00, plus postage
16.The Way of Children….El Camino de los Ninos… illustrated bilingual reflections, 2007, $10.50 plus postage.
17.Soul on Fire (Una Alma Encendida)…bilingual fictional tribute, 2007. $12.00, plus postage.
18. Metaphysical Musings (Still Points in Time) vol.1.brief reflections in English, 2009, $ 10.00, plus postage.
19. Blue Dog Savoir-Faire..poetry in English, 2009 $ 11.00, plus postage.
20. Sherry “Pilar” Thorne (A Dog’s Best Friend)..bilingual tribute, $11.50, plus postage.
21. Metaphysical Musings (Distillations of Spirit) vol.2, brief reflections in English, $10.00, plus postage.
22. Dream Journey (My Two Cents), a personal dream study in English, 2011, $15.00, plus postage.
23. My Friend, Henry (Mi amigo, Enrique), bilingual tribute, 2012, $17.00, plus postage,
24, Evaristo Lopez, El Hijo del Barrio La Ronda)..bilingual tribute, $12,00, plus postage.
25. Extra Innings (Inspirational Stories on Death and Dying). in English, 2014, $18.00, plus postage.