Quince Duncan is a Costa Rican fiction writer who has gained an international reputation, not just as an author, but also as a human rights leader. Through his novels, short stories, essays and other writings, Duncan illustrates the black African contributions to and experiences in Spanish-American culture in an uplifting and liberating light.
As a West Indian black growing up in San José, Duncan had to bear the brunt of a racially oppressive society. Despite the external social obstacles, Duncan completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in literature, linguistics, and Latin American Studies at the National University.
Quince Duncan’s quest for racial equality in Costa Rica extends itself on a global scale as a message of tolerance, acceptance and appreciation of all of humanity’s diversity.
Duncan was awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree from St. Olaf College in September of 2001.
Quince Duncan recipent of honorary
degree, September 2001
Pictured left to right: St. Olaf Pastor Bruce Benson, Professors Jim Dunlop and Sylvia Carullo, Writer Quince Duncan, Professor León Narváez and President Chris Thomforde.