Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes is one of Latin America’s most prominent men of letters. One of the leading novelists of an exceptional generation, he is also an outstanding essayist and literary historian, as well as the author of numerous screenplays, dramas and short stories. Born in 1928 in Panama City, the son of a Mexican diplomat, Fuentes was raised in Washington, D.C., Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile. He took a law degree from the National University of Mexico and pursued graduate studies at the Institut des Hautes Études Internationales in Geneva. Fuentes combined his life as a writer with a successful career in international relations that culminated in his appointment as Mexico’s ambassador to France (1975-77); since then he has held distinguished lectureships in England and America, and has been the Robert F. Kennedy Professor of Latin American Studies at Harvard University since 1987. Fuentes’ major works include: Where the Air is Clear (1958); The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962); A Change of Skin (1967); Terra Nostra (1975); The Hydra Head (1978); The Old Gringo (1985); Christopher Unborn ( 1987); The Campaign (1990); Diana: the Goddess Who Hunts Alone (1994); The Years with Laura Díaz (1999); Iñez (2001); This I Believe (2002); The Eagle’s Throne (2003); and Happy Families (2006). His most recent novel is La Voluntad y la fortuna (2008).
Prizes
Breve Prize, Editorial Seix Barral (1967)
Rómulo Gallegos International Novel Prize (1977)
Alfonso Reyes International Prize (1979)
National Prize in Literature in Mexico (1984)
Cervantes Prize (1987)
Premio Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (1992)
Legion of Honor Medal (1992)
Grinzane Cavour Award (1994)
Prince of Asturias Award of Spain (1994)
Latin Civilization Award, French Academy and Brazilian Academy (1999)
