2. About the author - G. L. Fuentes

Gregorio López y Fuentes was a Mexican novelist, poet, and journalist. He was born on November \(17\), \(1895\), on a ranch in the Huasteca region of Veracruz. He began writing at the age of fifteen, just as the Mexican Revolution broke out. He is best known for being one of the most important chroniclers of the Mexican Revolution and its effects.

In his childhood, Fuentes spent much time in his father’s general store, where he came in contact with the Indians, farmers, and labourers of the region, whose lives he would later describe with deep insight. After unsuccessful efforts at poetry and novels, he began to draw upon his experiences in the Revolution. His first success, Campamento (\(1931\); “Encampment”), was followed by several others dealing with aspects of the Revolution, including Tierra (\(1932\); “Earth”), a novel about the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata; ¡Mi general! (\(1934\); “My General!”), a work on the lives of generals after the Revolution; and El indio (\(1935\); “The Indian”), a fictional study of the life of Mexico’s indigenous race, his most celebrated work.

In the post-Revolution period, he began a distinguished career as a journalist at El Universal, becoming general editor of the newspaper in \(1948\) and serving in that capacity until the \(1960s\). Considered one of the prominent exponents of the "novel of the Revolution," Fuentes addressed the principal social issues of his time in his works. 

Fuentes  also wrote a series of short stories for children entitled "Cartas de niños" and "El campo y la ciudad". His many other books include La siringa de cristal (\(1914\)), Clas de selva (\(1921\)), El vagabundo (\(1922\)), El alma del poblacho (\(1924\)), Arrieros (\(1937\)), Huasteca (\(1939\)), Una Carta a Dios (\(1940\)), and many more.

Fuentes was awarded the National Prize of Arts and Sciences in \(1935\). He died on December\(10\), \(1966\) in Mexico City.