Juan Rulfo

Juan Rulfo was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel Pedro Páramo, and the collection of short stories El Llano en llamas (1953). His works are considered among the finest examples of 20th-century Latin American literature, and influenced many writers, such as Gabriel García Márquez. Rulfo grew up in the rural countryside of Jalisco, where he witnessed the violence of the Cristero War and the Mexican Revolution. His family lost their fortune and moved to Mexico City, where Rulfo worked as a clerk, a salesman, and a director of the National Institute for Indigenous Studies. He also became a prominent photographer, documenting the landscapes and people of his native region. Rulfo published his first short stories in the literary journal Pan, and later collected them in El Llano en llamas (1953). The stories depict the harsh realities of the rural poor, using a minimalist style and a blend of realism and fantasy. His novel Pedro Páramo (1955) is a masterpiece of modern literature, exploring the themes of death, memory, and identity through the journey of a man who returns to his father's hometown, only to find it inhabited by ghosts. Rulfo received several awards for his literary work, such as the National Prize for Literature and the Príncipe de Asturias Prize. He died of lung cancer in 1986, leaving behind a legacy of influential and original writing.