José J. Veiga

José Veiga, known as José J. Veiga, (1915–1999) was a Brazilian writer.^[1] His writings are often classified within the magical realism genre, although  he never accepted the label; his books deal with social and political criticism, with lyrical overtones.

Biography

He was born at Fazenda Morro Grande, a farm near Corumbá de Goiás. At age 20, he established himself in Rio de Janeiro where, among other jobs, worked as locutor of the today defunct Radio Guanabara. In 1941 he graduated in Law. From 1945 until 1949 Veiga lived in London, as commentator and translator for the Portuguese broadcasts of BBC World Service. Returning to Brazil, he worked as journalist in the newspapers O Globo and Tribuna da Imprensa. He was also translator and editor of the Brazilian edition of Reader's Digest and coordinated the publishing department of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation.^[2]

Veiga affirmed to have chosen his literary name thanks to the help of João Guimarães Rosa who suggested it to him to add a "J", from "Jacinto", Veiga's mother surname, shortly before the publication in 1959 of Os cavalinhos of Platiplanto, his first book edited. Thanks to said book the same year won the Fábio Prado Award.

His works have been published in the United States, England, Mexico, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Portugal. In 1997, he won by the group of his work the Prize Machado of Assis, awarded by the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

He died in Rio de Janeiro in 1999 from pancreatic cancer and complications caused by anemia.

Works

References