Born
1914, in
Brussels, to Argentine parents. Family returned to
Argentina following
World War I. Received degree in literature from the Teacher’s College,
Buenos Aires, in
1935. Worked as a secondary school teacher and translator, among others translating the complete works of
Edgar Allen Poe into Spanish for publication in Argentina. Refused a chair at the University of Buenos Aires because of his opposition to the
Peron regime. Emigrated to
France in
1951, where he gained citizenship. Was outspoken on political issues in
Latin America. Worked as a translator for
UNESCO, as well as writing poetry, plays, short stories and novels and playing
jazz trumpet. Was a regular
chess partner and friend to artist
Marcel Duchamp. Lived in France until his death in
1984.
Cortazar is considered by many to be the literary inheritor of Jorge Luis Borges’ legacy, his short stories and novels characterised by their reordering of reality, rendering identity, time and space as plastic, and experimenting with narrative structure; for instance, his 1966 novel Hopscotch (originally titled Rayuela) was structured in such a way that the chapters could be read in any order.
Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1967 film Blow-Up was based on the Cortazar short story of the same name.
Works translated into English:
1965: The Winners
1966: Hopscotch
1967: The End of the Game and Other Stories
(Also published as Blow-up and Other Stories)
1969: Cronopios and Famas
1972: 62: A Model Kit
1973: All Fires the Fire and Other Stories
1978: A Manual for Manuel
1980: A Change of Light and Other Stories
1983: We Love Glenda So Much and Other Tales
1984: A Certain Lucas
1986: Around the Day in Eighty Worlds
1989: Nicaraguan Sketches
1994: Unreasonable Hours
1997: Save Twilight: Selected Poems
2000: Final Exam