Álvaro Mutis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Álvaro Mutis
Born	(1923-08-25)August 25, 1923 Bogotá, Colombia
Died	September 22, 2013(2013-09-22) (aged 90) Mexico City, Mexico
Occupation	Poet and novelist
Genre	Fiction
Notable works	The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll

Álvaro Mutis Jaramillo (born August 25, 1923 – died September 22, 2013) was a famous writer from Colombia. He wrote poems, novels, and essays. His most well-known work is a series of novels called The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll. These stories are all about a character named Maqroll el Gaviero. Álvaro Mutis won many important awards for his writing, including the Miguel de Cervantes Prize in 2001 and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2002.

Early Life and Inspirations

Álvaro Mutis was born in Bogotá, Colombia. When he was two years old, he moved to Brussels, Belgium, because his father was a diplomat there. He lived in Brussels until he was eleven. Every summer, his family would travel back to Colombia by ship for holidays. During these visits, they stayed at his grandfather's coffee and sugar cane farm called Coello.

These early years, especially his time in the "tropics" (warm, tropical regions), greatly inspired his writing. He also loved reading books by Jules Verne and poems by Pablo Neruda. Mutis went to high school in Bogotá but never finished. However, he quickly became part of the writing scene in Bogotá as a poet in the 1940s. In 1948, he and Carlos Patiño published a small book of poems together.

From 1956 onwards, Mutis lived in Mexico City. He became very well-known there after the famous writer Octavio Paz praised his early poems.

Writing Career

Álvaro Mutis first published his poetry in 1948. His first short stories came out much later, in 1978. In 1986, he published La nieve del Almirante (which means The Snow of the Admiral). This was his first novella (a short novel) featuring his famous character, Maqroll. This book became very popular and was praised by critics.

Mutis received many literary awards for his work, especially for The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll. This collection includes all seven novellas about Maqroll the Gaviero. Some of his awards include the Prix Médicis from France (1989), the Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras from Spain (1997), the Miguel de Cervantes Prize from Spain (2001), and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature from the United States (2002).

Besides being a writer, Mutis had many different jobs. Like his character Maqroll, he traveled a lot for work. He was a public relations director for Standard Oil for five years. He also worked for over 20 years as a sales manager for Twentieth Century Fox and Columbia Pictures in their Latin American television divisions. Many people in Latin America first heard his voice when he narrated the Spanish version of the TV show The Untouchables.

In the 1950s, Mutis spent 15 months in a Mexican prison called Palacio de Lecumberri. This experience had a lasting impact on his life and writing. He wrote about it in his book Diario de Lecumberri.

Works

• Diario de Lecumberri (1960)
• The Snow Of The Admiral (1986)
• Ilona Arrives with the Rain (1987) (This book was later made into a film in 1996)
• The Tramp Steamer's Last Port of Call (1988)
• Un Bel Morir (1989)
• Amirbar (1990)
• Abdul Bashur, Dreamer of Ships (1991)
• Triptych on Sea and Land (1993)
• The Adventures of Maqroll: Four Novellas (1995)
  • This book includes:
    • The Tramp Steamer's Last Port of Call
    • Amirbar
    • Abdul Bashur, Dreamer of Ships
    • Triptych on Sea and Land
• Summa de Maqroll el Gaviero: Poesía 1948–1997 (1997)
• The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll (2002)
  • This book includes all seven Maqroll novellas:
    • The Snow Of The Admiral
    • Ilona Arrives With The Rain
    • Un Bel Morir
    • The Tramp Steamer's Last Port of Call
    • Amirbar
    • Abdul Bashur, Dreamer of Ships
    • Triptych on Sea and Land

Awards and Honors

• 1988 Premio Xavier Villaurrutia
• 1991 International Nonino Prize in Italy
• 1997 Premio Príncipe de Asturias
• 1997 Reina Sofia de Poesía
• 1997 Grinzane Cavour Prize
• 2001 Miguel de Cervantes Prize
• 2002 Neustadt International Prize for Literature

See Also

In Spanish: Álvaro Mutis para niños