Witold Gombrowicz – Poland

Novelist, playwright and essayist, born in 1904 and died in 1969. Studied law at the University of Warsaw and philosophy and economics in Paris.

In 1933 Gombrowicz published " Pamiętnik z okresu dojrzewania / Memoirs of a Time of Immaturity", a collection of humorous stories, which was completely misunderstood by contemporary critics. Four years later he published his first novel,  "Ferdydurke". Critics reacted harshly to "Ferdydurke", and the controversy surrounding the book divided readers into two camps: those who worshipped the author, and those who hated him. Gombrowicz became internationally famous in the 1960s, when several of his works -- "Pornography / Pornografia", "Cosmos / Kosmos", "Diary", and "Operetta / Operetka" -- were published in Paris. Gombrowicz is one of the most exceptional writers in the history of literature, at least in terms of his philosophy, his method of constructing texts and the power of his language. He fought endlessly against Polish tradition and history.

Known Literary Works:

·         The Possessed

·         Ferdydurke

·         Pornography

·         Cosmos

·         The Marriage

·         Operetta

Fernando Pessoa - Portugal

Fernando Pessoa is the most celebrated Portuguese poet. He was a member of the Modernist group Orpheu, considered its greatest representative. Pessoa's use of "heteronyms", who support and criticize each other's works, was unconventional. During his career as a writer Pessoa was not famous and he published little of his vast body of work. Most of his life Pessoa lived in a furnished room in Lisbon, where he died in obscurity.

Pessoa earned a modest living as a commercial translator, and wrote avant-garde reviews, especially for Orpheu. Pessoa's first book, ANTINOUS, appeared in 1918, and was followed by two other collection of poems, all written in English. It was not until 1933 that he published his first book, MENSAGEM, in Portuguese. However, it did not attract much attention.

Under his own name Pessoa wrote poems that are marked by their innovative language. Much of his best work Pessoa attributed later to his heteronyms, de Campos, Reis, and Caeiro. Álvaro de Campos, an engineer, represents the ecstasy of experience; he writes in free verse. Ricardo Reis is an epicurean doctor with a classical education; he writes in meters and stanzas that recall Horace. Alberto Caeiro, who called himself a shepherd, is against all sentimentality, and writes in colloquial free verse. Each persona has a distinct philosophy of life. Pessoa even created literary discussions among them.

Pessoa left behind some 25,000 unpublished text and fragments. From the 1940s, his poetry started to gain a wider audience in Portugal and later Brazil. Several of his collections have been published posthumously and translated in Spanish, French, English, German, Swedish, Finnish, and other languages.

Known Literary Works:

·         Poesias de fernando pessoa

·         Poesias de álvaro de campos

·         Poemas de alberto caeiro

·         Odes de ricardo reis

·          livro do dessossogego

·         Mensagem

·         Cartas

·         Cartas de amor de fernando pessoa

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra – Spain

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwiter. His magnum opus Don Quixote, often considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written. His work is often considered amongst the most important works in all of Western literature. His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that Spanish is often called the language of Cervantes.

In 1585, Cervantes published his first major work, La Galatea, a pastoral romance which received little contemporary notice. Cervantes next turned his attention to drama, but the plays he composed failed to achieve their purpose. The author stayed poor until 1605, when the first part of Don Quixote appeared. Although it did not make Cervantes rich, it brought him international appreciation as a man of letters. Cervantes produced a Second Part of Don Quixote, which made its appearance in 1615. Don Quixote has been regarded chiefly as a novel of purpose. It is stated again and again that he wrote it in order to satirize the romance of chavalry and to challenge the popularity of a form of literature that had been a favorite of the general public for more than a century.

Known Literary Works:

·         Don Quixote

·         Exemplary Novels

·         Viaje del Parnaso

·         Eight Comedies and Eight New Interludes

·         Los Trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda

William Shakespeare – England

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. His works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare. In the 20th century, his plays remain highly popular and are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

Known Literary Works:

·         Hamlet

·         King Lear

·         Macbeth

·         Julius Caesar

·         Othello

·         Romeo and Julliet

Samuel Beckett – Ireland

Irish novelist and playwright, regarded as a postmodernist. En attendant godot brought Beckett international fame and established him as one of the leading names of the theater of the absurd.

His plays are concerned with human suffering and survival, and his characters are struggling with meaninglessness and the world of the Nothing. Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. In his writings for the theater Beckett showed influence of burlesque, vaudeville, the music hall, commedia dell'arte, and the silent-film style of such figures as Keaton and Chaplin. Most of his work were written in French and subsequently translated into English with substantial changes. Beckett said that when he wrote in French it was easier to write "without style" - he did not try to be elegant. With the change of language Beckett escaped from everything with which he was familiar. These books reflected Beckett's bitter realization that there is no escape from illusions and from the Cartesian compulsion to think, to try to solve insoluble mysteries. Beckett was obsessed by a desire to create what he called "a literature of the unword." He waged a lifelong war on words, trying to yield the silence that underlines them.

Known Literary Works

·         Waiting for Godot

·         Happy Days

·         More Pricks Than Kicks

·         Oh Les Beaux Jours

·         Krapp's Last Tape

Goethe – German

German poet, novelist, playwright, courtier, and natural philosopher, one of the greatest figures in Western literature. In literature Goethe gained early fame with The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). He worked for most of his life on this masterwork , the poetic drama in two parts, FAUST. He started to compose Faust about the age of twenty-three, and finished the second part in 1832, just before his death. The original figure in the Faust legend was Gregorius Faustus , a seeker of forbidden knowledge. His true identity is not known, but he claimed to be an astrologer, expert in magic, and an alchemist.  Goethe's story created a new persona for the Devil - Mephistopheles was a gentleman, who had adopted the manners of a courtier. Faust's lust for knowledge is limitless and he makes a contract with Mephistopheles: he will die at the moment he declares himself satisfied.

 He also made important discoveries in connection with plant and animal life, and evolved a non-Newtonian and unorthodox theory of the character of light and color, which has influenced such abstract painters as Kandinsky and Mondrian. Goethe was one of the key figures of German literature in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He's influence spread across Europe, and for the next century his works were a major source of inspiration in music, drama, poetry and philosophy.

Known Literary Works

·      Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship

·       The Sorrows of Young Werther.

Hans Christian Andersen – Denmark

Danish writer, famous for his fairy tales, which were not meant merely for children but for adults as well. Andersen used frequently colloquial style that disguises the sophisticated moral teachings of his tales. Before achieving success as a playwright and novelist, Andersen was trained as singer and actor. Many of Andersen's fairy tales depict characters who gain happiness in life after suffering and conflicts. 'The Ugly Duckling' and 'The Little Mermaid' are Andersen's most intimate works. Some of his works have been translated into over 150 languages, inspiring several action films and animations , plays , ballets and much more.

Known Literary Works :

·         The Steadfast Tin Soldier

·        The Snow Queen

·        The Little Mermaid

·         The Thumbelina

·         The Little Match Girl