Feliz cumpleaños Gabo! – Gabriel Garcia Marquez turns 80 today

Famed Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez celebrates his 80^th birthday today and celebrations are being held in his honor in the town of his birth, throughout Colombia, and around the world. Gabo– as he’s affectionately called- is currently residing in Mexico and is taking a “creative pause” from writing.

Gabo’s won the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature yet his contributions to the world of literature are immeasurable. He championed the genre of magical realism in texts such as A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and One Hundred Years of Solitude. However, his previous background as a journalist and his political views were highly influential in The Autumn of the Patriarch, News of a Kidnapping, and The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor.

Gabo’s friendship with Fidel Castro has been a point of controversy though he has often shied away from the political spotlight (with a few exceptions).

Links- BBC News, El Tiempo, Reuters Canada, Prensa Latina, Sydney Morning Herald, Wikipedia, The Modern World, Brunei Times, independencia.net

Image- CUNY - Baruch College