Mario Levrero

Mario Levrero was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1940 and died there in 2004. He was a photographer, bookseller, comics scriptwriter, humorist, crossword author, and creator of brain games. He wrote twelve novels and several short story collections and it was not long before he gained cult status amongst readers in Uruguay and Argentina, despite keeping a low profile. He has inspired Latin American writers such as Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill, César Aira, and Alejandro Zambra. In 2000 he was awarded the Guggenheim grant, allowing him to complete work on The Luminous Novel, which was published posthumously.