Gabriel García Márquez
(1928– )
Gabriel García Márquez was born in Aracataca, Colombia where he lived with his grandparents for the first eight years of his life. When his grandfather died and his grandmother could no longer care for him, García Márquez went to live with his parents in Sucre. His childhood village and life with his grandparents remained important in his life, and he re-created the village, calling it Macondo, in his famous novel One Hundred Years of Solitude.
García Márquez's grandmother was a fantastic storyteller who enjoyed telling unbelievable stories as if they were fact. As a writer, García Márquez strives to follow his grandmother's example. He calls upon his eighteen years as a journalist, combining politics, folklore, and history to "report" about incredible events, extraordinary environments, and amazing people.
One Hundred Years of Solitude (1970) has sold over thirty million copies and has been translated into thirty-seven languages. Its popularity has created worldwide interest in Latin American literature. García Márquez's other books include Innocent Erendira and Other Stories (1978); Love in the Time of Cholera (1988); The General in His Labyrinth (1990); and Strange Pilgrims (1993), a collection of short stories. In 1982 Gabriel García Márquez received the Nobel Prize for literature.
