Professor Daniel Quiroz is the author of four books, including the novels Verano Rojo and Lluvia del Norte.
Daniel Quiroz is not only a professor, but also a fiction writer with multiple books published.
Quiroz, an associate professor of Spanish, said Quiroz’s books include a collection of short stories, a fiction novel about a Costa Rican man living in the United States, and two novels “in the realm of the crime genre.” These crime novels are Quiroz’s first two published works, titled “Verano Rojo” and “Lluvia del Norte,” which dealt with topics in Costa Rican history and politics.
“The crime genre is an excuse to delve deeper into specific issues related to Costa Rica’s history, socio-economic development, social tensions and immigration, and debates related to Costa Rica’s historical relationship with the Contras and the Nicaraguan revolution. “And the Central American revolution of the late 70s and early 80s,” Quiroz said.
According to Quiroz, these novels seek to question Costa Rican history and political ideology.
“So it’s a kind of excuse to talk about Costa Rica in depth in terms of its historical development, its historical myths, and the creation of the Costa Rican idea of a country of democracy, peace and stability,” Quiroz said. So part of the reason for writing novels is to problematize it, to question it, to dig deeper into it.”
These two novels focus on a Costa Rican investigator named “Don Chepe” who investigates a different murder case in each novel.
“He’s kind of like an unofficial investigator,” Quiroz said. “My friend, an Argentinian immigrant who immigrated to Costa Rica, was murdered while running a small coffee shop and bookstore in a small town on the coast.He made a decision.” This is to find out. ”
This murder investigation is directly related to the political strife in Central America in the 1970s.
“This criminal investigation will have a lot to do with Costa Rica’s involvement in the Central American wars, especially the 1979 Nicaraguan civil war, the revolution and the Sandinistas’ rise to power. , it was going from overthrowing a dictatorship to becoming a kind of dictatorship,” Quiroz said.
Quiros’ love of creative writing and work as a professor have influenced each other, and according to Quiros, the themes explored in these novels reflect this.
“When I was doing my PhD work in California, there were two tracks like this,” Quiroz said. “I was very interested in creative writing, but I was also interested in the normal academic path, so I think those two things came together in these books. .”
This semester, Quiroz is teaching a class called “Creative Writing in Spanish,” which also combines her work as a professor with her interest in creative writing.
“I always wanted to teach a simple creative writing course in Spanish at Lafayette,” Quiroz said.
“I love talking about creative writing and talking about writing and the ins and outs of writing, what I think good writing is, and how I can help people think about it. “It’s really exciting to be able to be,” he continued.
Olivia Simione ’26, a student in the class, finds Quiroz’s own experience as a creative writer valuable to the class experience.
“I think the fact that he’s a writer certainly provides a good perspective,” Simione said. “He’s very good at analyzing what we’re learning and giving context to it.”
Quiros is also running a study abroad program in Costa Rica this fall and is encouraging students to participate in the program.
“In the fall, our study abroad program will take Lafayette students to Costa Rica,” Quiros said. “They will also be taking classes with me that have to do with my creative writing… so it’s an exciting program and opportunity.”