Alicia Yáñez Cossío (Quito, September 10, 1928 ) is a prominent Ecuadorian poet, novelist and journalist. Yáñez Cossio is one of the leading figures in Ecuadorian literature and in Latin America, and she is the first Ecuadorian to win the Premio Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, which she received in 1996. In 2008 she received Ecuador's highest literary prize, the "Premio Eugenio Espejo" for her lifetime of work.