Borges, Jorge Luis (1899-1986)

Argentine poet and short-story writer. He was an exponent of magic realism. In 1961 he became director of the National Library, Buenos Aires, and was professor of English literature at the university there. He is known for his fantastic and paradoxical work Ficciones/Fictions (1944). He became blind in later life, but continued to write.

Borges explored metaphysical themes in early works such as Ficciones and El Aleph/The Aleph, and other Stories (1949). In a later collection of tales El informe de Brodie/Dr Brodie's Report (1972) he adopted a more realistic style, reminiscent of the work of the young Rudyard Kipling, of whom he was a great admirer. El libro de arena/The Book of Sand (1975) marked a return to more fantastic themes.