Fill out your data to get our latest news and publications








    Álvaro Mutis: Bogotá’s great poet

    Some of his best literary works includes Araucaíma, Ilona Llega con la Lluvia, Un Bel Morir, La Última Escala del Tramp Steamer and La Nieve del Almirante.

    Álvaro Mutis was born on August 25th 1923. His legacy will be present for generations to come, not only because of his international fame, but because of most of his prose and poems. His best remembered character is “Maqroll the sailor”, a wandering traveler who is present in most of his texts.

    The poet and writer spent his childhood in Brussels and his adolescence in Bogotá, where he discovered a taste for bohemian life. In 1948, he published his first poetry compilation, La Balanza, which dealt with the violence after the Bogotazo. In 1953, he published Los Elementos del Desastre, another poem collection where “Maqroll, the sailor” first appeared.

    After working in other professions (journalist, anchor, and PR agent, among others), and rubbing shoulders with Colombia’s most important writers, Mutis fled to Mexico in 1956 because of legal issues. The problems did not subside, and he was captured and imprisoned for 15 months in Lecumberri prison. This is where his literary work flourished. After serving his sentence, he settled in Mexico City.

    Mutis continued his literary path with successful pieces such as La Mansión de Araucaíma, Tríptico de Mar y Tierra, Ilona Llega con la Lluvia, Un Bel Morir, La Última Escala del Tramp Steamer, La Verdadera Historia del Flautista de Hammelin, Diario de Lecumberri, and La Nieve del Almirante.

    His internationally known work has received awards such as the Xavier Villaurrutia, the Médicis to Best Foreign Novel in France for La Nieve del Almirante, and the Knight Commander of the Aztec Eagle Order in México (1988). He was also distinguished as Knight of Arts and Literature in France (1989). He received the Alfonso X the wise’s Great Spanish Cross (1996); the Queen Sophie Ibero-American Poetry Award; Italy’s Grizane-Cavour; the Prince of Asturias Literature Award (1997); the Cervantes Award (2001); and the Neustadt International Literature Award (2002).

    Colombians will forever remember Álvaro Mutis’ works, for, as his great friend Gabriel García Márquez said: “We are all Maqroll”.

    Learn more about Álvaro Mutis and discover why when it comes to literature, the answer is Colombia.

    Rate this post
    Artículos recomendados
    Colombian music, Calixto ochoa, vallenato, colombian culture

    Five songs to celebrate the life of Calixto Ochoa

    Vallenato is one of the cornerstones of Colombian music and vibrates with the sentiment, tradition and folklore of the country’s...
    Literature, Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel of Literature, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Books

    Gabo beyond One Hundred Years of Solitude

    Gabriel García Márquez is one of Colombia’s most famous sons. His most celebrated work, One Hundred Years of Solitude, was...
    Sofía Vergara, Colombian actress, Colombian people

    5 facts about Sofía Vergara, the colombian actress who seduced Hollywood

    After stealing Colombian hearts as a model, Sofía Vergara now amazes the world as an actress.
    Five new Colombian technological innovations to keep an eye on

    Five new Colombian technological innovations to keep an eye on

    Five new technological innovations such as the oil of god, and a robot that detects illegal mining showcase #TheBestOfColombia.
    Ciro Guerra, filmaker, talented colombian

    Yes we Cannes: Colombia's talented movie directors

    If ever there was proof of the increasing success of Colombia's movie industry, the country will this year (2015) premiere...
    Top fashion designers drawing a new design - Get to know Colombian top fashion designers | Colombia Country Brand

    Colombian top fashion designers that should be on your radar

    Colombia is well known for its incredible landscapes, delicious coffee, and its great variety of fruits, but in recent years...
    Contemporary work of art by a Colombian artist in the Vatican - Work of art Ritual of Reconciliation by José Augusto Rivera Castro | Colombia Country Brand

    The Vatican Gardens will soon welcome a work of contemporary art from Colombia

    For the first time ever, a work of contemporary art from Colombia will be part of the Vatican Gardens. Its...

    Five talented Colombian women you must know about

    Talented Colombian women are changing the world, winning international acclaim and dominating fields as diverse as sports, film, food, science...
    Toto la Momposina, Singer, Musical icon, Art, Colombian people, arrtist, Talent

    Meet Toto La Momposina: A Colombian Music Icon

    She’s the first lady of traditional Colombian sounds and, more than 50 years after she started making music, Toto La...
    Gabriel García Márquez, Literature, Nobel of Literature, Colombian writer

    What was the Colombian rhythm that Gabriel García Márquez loved the most?

    Gabo’s life was surrounded by the sound of accordions and guacharacas that blend into a well-known Colombian music genre called...