Cecilia Meireles

Cecília Meireles was a Brazilian poet and writer, one of the most prominent and influential authors of the 20th century in Brazil. She was born in Rio de Janeiro, in 1901, and started her career in journalism in 1927, under the pen name Rita de Queiroz. She gained national recognition with her debut novel O Quinze, published in 1930, which depicted the harsh reality of the drought in the Northeast region of Brazil. She also wrote other novels, such as João Miguel (1932), As Três Marias (1939), O Galo de Ouro (1950), and Memorial de Maria Moura (1992), as well as short stories, essays, plays, and chronicles. She was a pioneer in using colloquial language and addressing social issues in her works, especially the role of women in Brazilian society. She was the first woman to enter the Brazilian Academy of Letters, in 1977, and the first woman to receive the Camões Prize, the most prestigious literary award in the Portuguese language, in 1993. She died in 1964, at the age of 63, after suffering a heart failure.