Jesús Moraes, (born 1955 in

Bella Unión Bella Unión is a city in the north part of Artigas Department of Uruguay. History The original settlement was founded on 13 May 1829 under the name "Santa Rosa". It was started by Fructuoso Rivera, who played a prominent role in the early histo ...

Artigas Department Artigas Department (, ) is the northernmost Departments of Uruguay, department of Uruguay, located in its northwestern region. Its capital is the city of Artigas, Uruguay, Artigas, which borders on the Brazilian city of Quaraí. Artigas Department ...

), is an

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an writer, who specializes in short stories.

Subject and nature of writings

As a

Spanish-language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

'cuentista', Moraes's writings regularly feature fantasy, religion, and the geographical north of

, from where he hails. Some of the religious thematic element in Moraes's work relates to his seminary background, although his theological studies did not eventually lead to a clerical vocation.

Works

''El descubrimiento'' (The Discovery) is one of his better-known compilations. His short story "Los demonios de Pilar Ramírez" (The demons of Pilar Ramírez) has been made into a film.

Regional background

While

an culture, especially its 20th- and 21st century literature, is substantially secular, and based in the capital,

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Moraes's work in contrast is centred upon the north of the country, and its religious overtones tend to be more overt than in the works of many other contemporary

an writers. Along with fellow writer

Circe Maia Circe Maia, (born June 29, 1932, in Montevideo), is a Uruguayan poet, essayist, translator, and teacher. Biography Circe Maia was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1932. Her parents were María Magdalena Rodríguez and the notary Julio Maia, both ...

, he is one of the relatively few contemporary Uruguayan writers to be strongly identified with the north of the country.

Moraes's works in translation

Some of Moraes's work has been translated into Portuguese. Significantly for Moraes's work, the

an north shares geographical and cultural similarities with the neighbouring state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, in Portuguese-speaking

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

; and

, the writer's hometown, is situated near to the Cuareim River, marking the border between

and

External links

Photo:

Some of Moraes' works are accessible Online:

Re. Moraes's work translated into Portuguese:

References