Octavio Paz

Mexican, 1914–1998

Octavio Paz was a Mexican poet-diplomat and essayist. He is considered one of the most influential writers of the 20th century and one of the greatest Hispanic poets of all time. Paz began his poetic career in his teens by founding an avant-garde literary magazine, Barandal, and publishing his first book of poems, Luna silvestre, in 1933. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature.