Gabriel García Márquez

Who is Gabriel García Márquez?

Gabriel García Márquez was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, and journalist born in Aracataca, a small town in the Caribbean region of Colombia. Widely known by the affectionate nickname 'Gabo,' he is regarded as one of the most significant authors of the twentieth century and a central figure in the Latin American literary 'Boom.' His masterpiece, 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' (Cien años de soledad, 1967), tells the multi-generational story of the Buendía family in the fictional town of Macondo and became a defining work of magical realism, blending everyday reality with the fantastical. He also wrote 'Love in the Time of Cholera' (1985), 'The Autumn of the Patriarch' (1975), and 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' (1981). Before achieving international fame, he worked as a journalist and wrote reportage. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982. He spent much of his life in Mexico City, where he died.

Sources: Gabriel García Márquez, 'Cien años de soledad' (1967) · Gabriel García Márquez, 'El amor en los tiempos del cólera' (1985) · Nobel Prize in Literature 1982, nobelprize.org · Gerald Martin, 'Gabriel García Márquez: A Life' (2008)