Essays on Jorge Luis Borges

24 August 1899

14 June 1986

Writer, poet, philosopher, translator, editor, critic, librarian

• A Universal History of Infamy (1935)
• Ficciones (1944)
• El Aleph (1949)
• Labyrinths (1962)
• The Book of Sand (1975)

• Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1962)

24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986

Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Borges was a vocal supporter of Hipólito Yrigoyen and the social democratic Radical Civic Union. In 1945, Borges signed a manifesto calling for an end to military rule and the establishment of political liberty and democratic elections. He was an anti-communist and anti-fascist.

A Universal History of Infamy (1935), Ficciones (1944), El Aleph (1949), Labyrinths (1962), The Book of Sand (1975)

Jorge Luis Borges is referred to by some as the Father of Latin Literature, due to his writing style of magical realism, which combined nineteenth century techniques with twentieth century visions. His stories combine mystery, fantasy, riddles, metafiction, and much else besides.

Although Jorge Luis Borges was not well known during his lifetime, his collections of poems and stories are now considered classics of 20th-century literature. He is credited with bringing Latin American literature out of academia and to a global audience.

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”
“I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited.”
“I cannot sleep unless I am surrounded by books.”