Enrique Fernández Morales

Enrique "Quico" Fernández Morales (December 25, 1918 – November 18, 1982) was a Nicaraguan writer, playwright, and illustrator. He was also director of the National Museum and a professor of fine arts.

Biography He pursued higher education in the United States at an art school in San Francisco, California, as well as at the Art Students League of New York. He was also one of the first Nicaraguan writers to address homoeroticism in his works. His “Soneto para morir” (Sonnet to Die), written before he turned 30 and considered by writer Ernesto Cardenal as the best Nicaraguan sonnet, deals with anal penetration. The theme is also present in a collection of poems about angels that Fernández wrote, which although authors such as Julio Valle Castillo interpreted solely from a religious perspective, academics have pointed out as clearly inspired by the poet's own homoerotic desires, for example in the verses: “I nestled him in my arms, within the hollow / always warm and open, that retains / the precise measure of his limbs.”

As a playwright, he is recognized for his historical pieces La niña del río (1943), which recounts the life of the national heroine Rafaela Herrera, and El milagro de Granada (1954), about the legend of an apparition of the Virgin Mary supposedly seen on Lake Nicaragua.

His most renowned work was the dramatic monologue Judas (1970), first performed on June 17, 1978, at the Teatro Nacional Rubén Darío. The piece tells the story of Judas Iscariot and his betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth, and falls within the existentialist theater movement.

Works Theater La niña del río (1943) El milagro de Granada (1954) Judas (1970)

Poetry El vengador de la Concha (1962) Aunque es de noche (1977)