Manoel de Barros

Origin

Cuiabá, MT

Genres

poetry, mpb

Biography

Manoel Wenceslau Leite de Barros was born in Cuiabá on December 19, 1916, and established himself as one of the greatest poets of the Portuguese language in the 20th century. Although chronologically associated with the Generation of '45, his poetry drew close to the European avant-gardes and Oswald de Andrade's Anthropophagy, and his work has been set to music in projects such as that of singer Márcio de Camillo.

After living in Corumbá and studying in Rio de Janeiro, where he graduated in law and published his first book, Poemas concebidos sem pecado, the author spent periods in Bolivia, Peru, and New York. In the 1960s, he settled in Campo Grande as a cattle rancher, maintaining a vigorous literary output that engaged in dialogue with the nature of the Pantanal and popular oral tradition, and he is frequently compared to prose writer Guimarães Rosa.

His work gained late national prominence, propelled by figures such as Millôr Fernandes starting in the 1980s, and received significant awards, including two Jabuti Prizes. Manoel de Barros passed away in Campo Grande on November 13, 2014, leaving an inestimable legacy that continues to be celebrated in contemporary literature and cultural tributes throughout the country.