Javier Ponce Gambirazio

Javier Ponce Gambirazio (born 1967) is a Peruvian writer, film director and psychologist. His work focuses on the experiences of LGBTQ characters and he is one of the few Peruvian writers of his time to openly address trans themes. Among his best-known works is the novel El cine malo es mejor.

Career During the 1980s, he recorded the experiences of elderly people about what it was like to be homosexual in the 1930s and 1950s in Peru.

His first work was the poetry book Cuatro tazas de café, published in 1994. This was followed by the short story collection La música que no escuchamos (1998) and the novel Amapola (1999).

His next novels, Un trámite difícil (2006) and Una vida distinta (2006), were published in Spain by Editorial Pre-Textos and were the first of his works to feature transgender protagonists.

As a film director, he has directed the documentaries Lucha Reyes, carta al cielo (2009) and Sarita Colonia, la tregua moral (2016), about the aforementioned historical figures. The first of them, Lucha Reyes, was described by Ponce as "our gay icon", while of Sarita Colonia he highlighted the fact that she was rejected by the Catholic Church for "welcoming criminals, prostitutes, transvestites, and homosexuals". a commemorative volume that tells the origin, production, and realization of the film, with photos and graphic material, and the relationships between the members of the production team. It features texts by collaborators such as: Hernán Migoya, Mario Bellatín, Francisco Lombardi, Juan Bonilla, Bárbara Panse, Diego Galdo, Giancarlo Mori, Christian Plascencia, Lucas Cornejo Pásara, Magally Alegre Henderson, Marina García Burgos, Juan Villanueva García.

Works Novels Amapola (1999) Un trámite difícil (2006) Una vida distinta (2006) El chico que diste por muerto (2013) El cine malo es mejor (2018) Lo tenemos levantado hacia el Señor (2019)

Others Cuatro tazas de café (1994), poetry La música que no escuchamos (1998), short stories Mátame si puedes (2022), photo-novel. Crónicas maricas (2023), non-fiction Anastasha, treinta años de una película de culto (2024), non-fiction

Filmography Lucha Reyes, carta al cielo (2009) Sarita Colonia, la tregua moral (2016)