Antonio Skármeta

Antonio Skármeta was born in 1940 in Chile. He studied philosophy and literature at the University of Chile and the arts at Columbia University. His first book, a collection of short stories titled "El entusiasmo" ("Enthusiasm"), was published in 1967. This was followed by the short story collections "Desnudo en el tejado" ("Naked on the Roof," 1973), "Tiro Libre" ("Free Kick," 1973), "El ciclista de San Cristobal" ("The Cyclist of San Cristobal," 1973), and "Novios y solitarios" ("Grooms and Loners," 1975). His novels include "Sone que la nieve ardua" ("I Dreamt the Snow Was Burning," 1975), "No paso nada" ("Nothing Happened," 1980), "La insurreccion" ("The Insurrection," 1982), and "El cantero de Neruda" ("Neruda's Postman," 1985), a novel that was adapted into a film and brought him worldwide fame. Subsequent novels include "Match Ball" (1989), "La boda del poeta" ("The Poet's Wedding," 1999), and "La chica del trombon" ("The Girl with the Trombone," 2001). In recent years, he has been living in Paris as his country's ambassador, a position once held by his friend Pablo Neruda before the coup against President Allende.