by what it says of "oscure" I think damned might be more appropriate here
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/damned

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 mins (2011-05-19 14:24:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dilvish-El-maldito-Damned/dp/8498007...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yuribittar/4225417292/

a suggestion

Possibly a bit over the top, but it's an option.

Not a literal rendering, but my impression from the context you've provided is that this is closer to the idea being conveyed.

*Following your text. A writer falls in the category of cursed individuals/cursed souls. Jun 2008 ... I also found that Charles Baudelaire was called a poéte maudit(translated as cursed poet or poeta maldito) as shown in these two sites ...esl.proz.com › KudoZ home › español al inglés › Música - En caché (this also suggests doomed, which is not bad either.)
Un escritor maldito es indefinible.
No obstante eso tiene dos ineludibles características.
La primera es que escribe.
La segunda es que está maldito.

It's defensible, in that it means both unfortunate and damned

I don't think one should try to translate "maldito" literally, in terms of curses (as the opposite of blessings), but rather tto for a termo commonly used in English

Folowing Jim Tucker's excellent suggestion, consider:

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2011-05-19 16:17:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

After giving up his post as a policeman in Burma to become a writer, .... We wonder if the author was really down and out. Down certainly, but out? ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_and_Out_in_Paris_and_London - Cached - Similar
From down and out in London to romantic novelist: writer who lived ...
11 Feb 2011 ... Tom Gamble spent a brief but 'harrowing' period living on the streets of London. Now his novel is on the shortlist for the Romantic Novel of ...
www.dailymail.co.uk/.../From-London-romantic-novelist-write...
YouTube - Farewell to Harry, Joe Flanigan, Lysette Anthony, Brent ...
17 May 2010 ... A down-and-out writer, Nick Sennet, runs into Harry, a man that, legend has it, died long ago. Together they attempt to revitalize a defunct ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=twkgugFxHHY - Cached
Down & Out In Flanders | Anna McPartlin – Best Selling Author & Writer
11 May 2010 ... Anna McPartlin – Best Selling Author & Writer. Website for Bestselling Irish Author & Writer .... One Response to “Down & Out In Flanders” ...
annamcpartlin.com/?p=267 - Cached
Joel Reese :: Chicago, IL :: Writer/editor :: Down and Out
“O.K.” I ran back to the living room and Golden was passed out in the classic drunk position: face down on the carpet, arms at his sides, knees bent. ...
www.joelcreese.com/clips/my-favorite.../articles-down-and-o... - Cached
Writer Unblocked » Down and Out in The City of Lights-A Webisode
23 Oct 2010 ... DOWN AND OUT IN THE CITY OF LIGHTS. Episode One. Screen is blacked out. Children's voices mixed with crying and banging fists on door. ...
writerunblocked.com/down-and-out-in-the-city-of-lights-a-webisode/ - Cached
Down and out in Koh Kong, Cambodia - Michael Batson - Travel Writer
NZ-based travel writer specialising in SE Asia, blending local culture and history with the characters along the way into a collage cutting sharply and ...
www.michaelbatson.co.nz/.../21-down-and-out-in-koh-kong-cam... - Cached - Similar

Saludos!
eski :))

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2011-05-19 16:19:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

NOTE TYPO: I Should 've included hyphens above:
"down-and-out"
:)) eski in Acapulco

Hi, I agree with Antoni. My first thought was damned writer.