Gabriel Garcia Marquez Biography

Gabriel Garcia Marquez was a Colombian novelist counted among the greatest writers of the 20th century. Known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America, he was much beloved to his fans who loved his literary style of effortlessly blending magical, supernatural elements with the natural and normal surroundings, a style known as “Magic Realism” which he helped popularize. His skill as a writer lay in the fact that his works not only appealed to the common readers, but also received much critical acclaim and praise from literary critics. An outspoken critic of Colombian and foreign politics, his initial career interest was in becoming a lawyer in accordance to his parents’ wish. However, while studying law he decided that he wanted to be a journalist and thus embarked on a journalistic career. While working as a correspondent in Paris, he read a great deal of American literature and its French translations, and this laid the foundation for his future literary career. Even though best known for his mastery over magic realism, he was also equally skilled at writing works of non-fiction, as his initial writings were heavily imbued with realistic themes. He received several international awards for his invaluable contribution to literature including the 1972 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature.