Author Carlos Fuentes, whose novels helped begin the rise of Latin American writing in the latter part of the 20th century, died on May 15, 2012 in a Mexico City hospital at age 83. A prolific writer throughout his lifetime, Fuentes wrote his first novel, Where the Air is Clear, at age 29, and on the day he died he published an essay in Reforma, a newspaper. He published over twenty novels and several short story collections, as well as plays, screenplays, and works of essay.

As part of a literary movement now called “El Boom,” the explosion of contemporary Spanish literature, Fuentes rose to acclaim alongside Gabriel Gárcia Marquez and Mario Vargas LLosa. Their work brought Latin American political and social struggles to the forefront, at a time when dictators, drug-related crime, and oppression gripped Central and South America. Fuentes’s best known novels include The Death of Artemio Cruz, Aura,and Terra Nostra. American readers may know him best for The Old Gringo, a novel that depicted American writer and journalist Ambrose Bierce.

An occasional Twitter user, Carlos Fuentes’s final message, from March 19, 2011, read: There must be something beyond slaughter and barbarism to support the existence of mankind and we must all help search for it.

Fuentes’s many accolades include the 1987 Cervantes Prize—the highest literary award in the Spanish-speaking world, France’s National Order of Merit, and Spain’s Prince of Asturias Award for literature. Though he never won it, he was always in the discussion for the Nobel Prize, something that both of his colleagues, Márquez and Llosa, received. In the United States, Fuentes taught at many of the top universities, including Brown, Columbia, and Harvard.

In reference to his irrepressible writing habits, he once said, “There’s always another book in there. I sleep, dream, get up, write something.”

His novel, Vlad, a vampire story set in Mexico City, will be published in July by Dalkey Archive Press.

Sources: The Huffington Post
Publishers Weekly
The New York Times