The Modern Novel

Biography

Augusto Monterroso is perhaps most famous for his short story The Dinosaur The complete story is Cuando despertó, el dinosaurio todavía estaba allí. (When s/he woke up, the dinosaur was still there). He was born in 1921 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. His father was Guatemalan and his mother Honduran. The family moved between the two countries, finally settling in Guatemala City in 1936. As a result of these moves, he had little formal schooling and was, to a great extent, self-taught. He was active in the movement opposed to Jorge Ubico and his successor Ponce Vaides. He founded an opposition paper which was suppressed and, with the government arresting those involved in the paper, he went into exile to Mexico. He stayed there till 1963, when he was appointed to a post in the Guatemalan Embassy in Bolivia. A coup d’état in 1954 meant further exile, this time in Chile. He stayed for two years before returning to Mexico where he lived till he died in 2003. He specialised in the micro-relato (microstory), many of which, like the one above, are very short.

Other links

Augusto Monterroso
Obituary
Obituary
Augusto Monterroso (in Spanish)
Augusto Monterroso (in Spanish)
Augusto Monterroso (selection of online texts – in Spanish)
Obituary (in Spanish)
Interview (in Spanish)