Augusto Monterroso facts for kids

Augusto Monterroso Bonilla (born December 21, 1921 – died February 7, 2003) was a famous writer. He was born in Honduras but later became a citizen of Guatemala. Monterroso was known for his funny and often ironic short stories.

He is considered a very important writer from the "Boom" generation. This was a time when many amazing writers from Latin America became popular worldwide. Monterroso received several big awards, including the Prince of Asturias Award in Literature in 2000.

Life Story of Augusto Monterroso

Early Life and Moving to Guatemala

Augusto Monterroso was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. His mother was Honduran, and his father was Guatemalan. In 1936, when he was about 15 years old, his family moved to Guatemala City. He lived there until he was a young adult.

Fighting for Freedom

In Guatemala City, Monterroso started writing his first short stories. He also began working secretly against the government at the time, which was a dictatorship. A dictatorship is a type of government where one person or a small group has all the power and doesn't allow people to have much freedom. To fight this, he started a newspaper called El Espectador with other writers.

Exile and Diplomatic Work

Because he opposed the government, Monterroso was arrested and sent away to Mexico City in 1944. This is called being "exiled." Soon after he arrived in Mexico, the government in Guatemala changed. Monterroso then got a small job at the Guatemalan embassy in Mexico. An embassy is like an office for a country in another country.

In 1953, he moved to Bolivia for a short time. He worked there as a consul for Guatemala in La Paz. A consul helps citizens of their country who are living or traveling abroad. In 1954, he moved again to Santiago de Chile. This happened after the Guatemalan government he supported was overthrown.

Return to Mexico and Later Years

In 1956, Monterroso moved back to Mexico City for good. He spent the rest of his life there. He worked in different jobs at universities and publishing companies. He also continued to write his amazing stories.

Monterroso received many honors for his writing. In 1988, he got the Águila Azteca, which is a very high award from the Mexican government for people from other countries. In 2000, he received the Prince of Asturias Award from Spain. He also won the Guatemala National Prize in Literature in 1997 for all his work.

Augusto Monterroso passed away in Mexico City in 2003. He was 81 years old.

Augusto Monterroso's Writings

Master of the Short Story

Augusto Monterroso mostly wrote very short stories. Even though the "Boom" generation was famous for its long novels, Monterroso became a central figure by focusing on short pieces. He worked hard to make his short stories perfect.

His book Lo demás es silencio ("The Rest is Silence") was his only attempt at a novel. But even this book was made up of many small texts, like newspaper clippings and diary entries. This made it feel more like a collection of short pieces than a traditional novel.

The World's Shortest Story

Monterroso is famous for writing what many people say is one of the shortest stories ever. It's called "El Dinosaurio" ("The Dinosaur"). It was published in his book Obras completas (Y otros cuentos) (Complete Works (And Other Stories)).

The entire story is just one sentence:

Cuando despertó, el dinosaurio todavía estaba allí.

("When he awoke, the dinosaur was still there.")

Another famous writer, Carlos Fuentes, once described Monterroso's writing. He said to imagine a magical creature having tea with Alice. He also said to imagine Jonathan Swift and James Thurber sharing ideas. This shows how unique and imaginative Monterroso's stories were.

See also

In Spanish: Augusto Monterroso para niños