Del Paso, Father of Mexican Literature, Dies at Age 83

An icon in Mexican literature, the award-winning novelist Fernando del Paso died Wednesday in Guadalajara, Mexico at the age of 83, local media outlets reported.

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“Fernando del Paso enriched the cultural heritage of Mexico, his work is an invaluable legacy for Spanish literature, and my deepest condolences to his family, his friends, and the cultural community that recognizes him as one of the great creators of the country. Rest in peace,” Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said.

“A draftsman and a painter," del Paso was born in Mexico City in 1935 and from an early age, pursued his life’s passion. Del Paso’s creative literature quickly captured international attention. As Secretary of Culture Maria Cristina Garcia recounted, the work of Del Paso was “a universe of words that earned him awards and recognition and, above all, thousands of readers in different languages.”

Best known for the novels “Jose Trigo,” “Palinuro de Mexico,” and “Noticias del Imperio,” del Paso’s poetry, essays, plays and children's literature have been translated into English, French, Portuguese, German, Dutch, and Chinese.

"I've learned with tremendous sadness of the unfortunate death of the great Fernando del Paso. The entire Mexican literary universe is in mourning. All of @FILGuadalajara in mourning. I feel this loss so keenly."

In an interview with La Jornada, writer Elena Poniatowska said no contemporary Mexican writer will ever compare to the impression his work made on the nation.

“Del Paso seeks to exhaust the possibilities of language, the work is infinite and each thing has irremediably a single name, but Fernando wants them to have more and binds them together- a sumptuous cascade of words that seem to have no end,” she said.

Throughout his lifetime, Del Paso was awarded numerous awards such as the Romulo Gallegos International Prize (1982), France’s Best Novel Prize (1985), the Mexico Novel Award (1986), and the Miguel de Cervantes Prize (2015) among others.