Xavier Villaurrutia y González (27 March 1903 – 25 December 1950) was a Mexican

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

, playwright and literary critic whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas called ''Autos profanos'', compiled in the work ''Poesía y teatro completos'', published in 1953.

Early life

Xavier Villaurrutia was born in Mexico City in 1903. He studied in the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria (

National Preparatory School The Escuela Nacional Preparatoria ( en, National Preparatory High School) (ENP), the oldest senior High School system in Mexico, belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), opened its doors on February 1, 1868. It was founde ...

) and in the Escuela de Jurisprudencia (Jurisprudence School). During that time, he felt a certain affinity to writing so he decided to dedicate his life to writing literature. In 1928, he joined the grupo de los Contemporáneos (Contemporaries). In 1935, he received a scholarship to study theatre at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. Returning to Mexico in 1937, he started working for the local newspaper, ''Letras de Mexico''. Along with Salvador Novo, they founded the magazine ''Ulises'' in 1927.

Professional achievements

Professionally, Villaurrutia worked for the Mexican literary review, '' Contemporáneos'' (literally "Contemporaries"), from 1928 to 1931. Villaurrutia would later found the first

experimental theater Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu plays as a rejection of both the age in particular ...

in Mexico.

Notable works

Villaurrutia's notable works include his poetic writings, beginning with ''Reflejos'' in 1926 and ''Nocturnos'' in 1933. Villaurrutia's writing becomes darker in his later poetic works: ''Nostalgia de la muerte'' (literally meaning "Nostalgia of death") in 1938, and ''Décima muerte'' (literally "tenth death") in 1941. It is unclear if this change was due to the increased turmoil in Europe that would lead to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

or simply due to Villaurrutia's increasing age. The preoccupation with death in Villaurrutia's work climaxed with his 1941 play, ''Invitación à la muerte'', the title of which can be literally translated to "Invitation to the death" (see "References" below regarding Dr. Raymond Marion Watkins's book which chronicles a history and analysis of this play, which Watkins demonstrates was heavily influenced by Villaurrutia's integration of dramatic elements traceable to William Shakespeare's "Hamlet.") The final published work of Villaurrutia came posthumously in 1953 with the publication of ''Poesía y teatro completos'', a collection of his works which included the short theatrical dramas, ''Autos profanos''.

Inspiration

Xavier Villaurrutia was greatly influenced by the work of Ramón López Velarde as well as by several other Mexican poets. He has been a major influence for many poets, including

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and ...

(who was his student) and

Alí Chumacero Alí Chumacero Lora (9 July 1918 – 22 October 2010) was a Mexican poet, translator, literary critic and editor. He was a member of the Mexican Academy of Language. Biography Alí Chumacero Lora was born on July 9, 1918, in Acaponeta, state ...

Commemoration

Since 1955, there has been a

Xavier Villaurrutia Award The Xavier Villaurrutia Award (Premio Xavier Villaurrutia) is a prestigious literary prize given in Mexico, to a Latin American writer published in Mexico. Founded in 1955, it was named in memory of Xavier Villaurrutia. Multiple awards have been gi ...

for literary works published in Mexico, selected by a jury of writers. This award has been sponsored by the

Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes The Secretariat of Culture ( es, Secretaría de Cultura), formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts ( es, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes or CONACULTA), is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nation's museums ...

since 1991.''El Premio Xavier Villaurrutia''
- in Spanish

References

Links

* * For more information on Villaurrutia's "Invitación a la Muerte," see Dr. Raymond Marion Watkins's From Elsinore to Mexico City: The Pervasiveness of Shakespeare's Hamlet in Xavier Villaurrutia's Invitación à la Muerte—published in Saarbrücken, Germany, by

VDM Verlag Omniscriptum Publishing Group, formerly known as VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, is a German publishing group headquartered in Riga, Latvia. Founded in 2002 in Düsseldorf, its book production is based on print-to-order technology. The company publi ...

, 2008. Dr. Watkins's book also includes extensive documentation of Villaurrutia's study at Yale University's Drama School from 1935–36, the only time Villaurrutia left his native Mexico City. {{DEFAULTSORT:Villaurrutia, Xavier 1903 births 1950 deaths Mexican male poets Mexican people of Basque descent Gay writers LGBT writers from Mexico Mexican dramatists and playwrights LGBT dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Mexican poets 20th-century Mexican dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Mexican male writers Mexican magazine founders Mexican literary critics 20th-century LGBT people