“If one of the functions of great fiction is to teach us how to live, in his depictions of nature and his descriptions of Maqroll, Álvaro fulfills that duty, without precepts, certainly without dogma, but by sacralized, yet worldly, example.”—Edith Grossman, “Confessions of an Unreconstructed Romantic” (WLT 77, July 2003)
Álvaro Mutis (1923–2013) was a Colombian poet, novelist, and essayist. Though he was born in Colombia, he lived in Brussels until he was eleven years old. His first collection of poetry was published in 1948, and his first short stories appeared in 1978. Mutis is best known for his award-winning novellas, published in the United States in two collections, Maqroll and The Adventures of Maqroll. His body of work includes La Nieve del Almirante (1986; Eng. The Snow of the Admiral, 1995), Ilona llega con la lluvia (1987; Eng. Ilona Comes with the Rain, 1995), La última escala del Tramp Steamer (1989; Eng. The Tramp Steamer’s Last Port of Call, 1995), and Abdul Bashur, soñador de navíos (1991; Eng. Abdul Bashur, Dreamer of Ships, 1995). His most famous book is Empresas y Tribulaciones de Maqroll el Gaviero (Eng. The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll), consisting of seven novellas.
In his nominating statement for Mutis, Colombian poet Juan Gustavo Cobo Borda said, “The Colombian Álvaro Mutis is, without doubt, a contemporary writer who possesses a cultural background sufficiently broad and universal to transcend languages and borders.” (WLT 77, July 2003)
2002 Neustadt Jurors and Candidates |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| JURORS | FINALISTS | |||
| Evelyne Accad (Lebanon/United States) | Andrée Chedid (Egypt/France) | |||
| Kwame Anthony Appiah (United States) | Antonio Lobo Antunes (Portugal) | |||
| Juan Gustavo Cobo Borda (Colombia) | Alvaro Mutis (Colombia) | |||
| Lorna Goodison (Jamaica) | Wilson Harris (Guyana) | |||
| Thomas King (Canada) | Eduardo Galeano (Uruguay) | |||
| Bill Manhire (New Zealand) | Janet Frame (New Zealand) | |||
| Rainer Schulte (Germany/United States) | Homero Aridjis (Mexico) | |||
| Moacyr Scliar (Brazil) | Luis Fernando Verissimo (Brazil) | |||
| Barry Unsworth (England) | Peter Matthiessen (United States) | |||
| Jane Urquhart (Canada) | Mavis Gallant (Canada/France) | |||
