author
Paraguay
One of Paraguay’s most celebrated novelists, he wrote fiction shaped by dictatorship, exile, and the long shadows of national history. His work is known for its moral force, political insight, and inventive style.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Asunción in 1917, Augusto Roa Bastos became one of the defining voices of Paraguayan literature. He worked as a journalist early on, and the upheavals of Paraguayan politics deeply marked both his life and his writing.
Much of his career unfolded in exile, first in Argentina and later in France. That distance sharpened his focus on power, violence, memory, and the struggles of ordinary people, themes that run through his best-known books, including Hijo de hombre and I, the Supreme.
Roa Bastos received broad international recognition, including the Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious award in Spanish-language literature. Readers often return to his work for its blend of historical depth, emotional intensity, and fearless questioning of authority.