Revolution in the Colombian Academy of Language with the entry of Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Héctor Abad and three women linguists

The Colombian Academy of Language, which had been hibernating for some time, has suffered these days a real revolution, surely the largest since its foundation, 152 years ago. The writer, essayist and poet Juan Gabriel Vásquez, collaborator of EL PAÍS, has joined as a member of the institution along with the novelists Héctor Abad, William Ospina and Juan Esteban Constaín. So suddenly, four of the most outstanding writers in this country. In addition, three linguists have been admitted: Agueda Pizarro, Miriam Constanza Moya and Mercedes Medina de Pacheco.

The transformation seems similar to that suffered by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) when Arturo Pérez Reverte, Antonio Muñoz Molina and Javier Marías entered it at the beginning of the century. The windows of an institution stagnant in time opened wide at that moment: novelists instead of academics and linguists entered. Something similar has happened here. "The history of the first American language academy undergoes a historic shake-up. There is no doubt about that," says Daniel Samper Pizano, the academic who has championed the transformation. The Colombian headquarters of letters thus suffers a shake-up after years dying.

"The institution has a beautiful history," says Vásquez shortly after finding out. "I have said many times that a novelist's homeland is his language, and this is like going to live in the capital of that homeland. I have spent my life trying to master the mysteries of my language, its temperament and its personality. What we call the genius of language, rather. I will be very happy now to do it also from there," adds the most international of living Colombian writers.

The author of novels that are already part of the history of Colombian literature such as El ruido de las cosas al caer or Volver la vista atrás considers his entry an honor. His name represents the letters of Bogotá, the capital of the country, but the institution has made an attempt this time to decentralize by also naming Héctor Abad (Medellín), Constaín (Popayán) and Ospina (Tolima). The members of the academy are confident that these new appointments will modernize the Academy. "These are the new generations that will have the future in their hands," said the president in charge, Eduardo Durán Gómez.

In addition, Nicaraguan Sergio Ramírez has been named corresponding foreign member, a title also held by Álex Grijelmo, a linguist and historical journalist of EL PAÍS. Ramírez, a Cervantes Prize winner who lives in exile, was stripped of his nationality three months ago along with 93 other personalities by authoritarian President Daniel Ortega, and in February accepted the offer of Colombian citizenship. The renowned economist José Antonio Ocampo, recently dismissed by President Gustavo Petro as Minister of Finance, enters to monitor the inclusion of economic terms, as in other fields such as medicine. Ocampo was a candidate before he was part of Petro's first cabinet.

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