Camilo José Cela

Spanish novelista of post-Civil War period who, with his first and most popular novel, 'La familia de Pascual Duarte' (1942) established the narrative style known as tremendismo, a tendency to emphasize violence and grotesque imagery. His literary production -primarily novels, short narratives, and travel diaries- is characterized more by sketches, details and verbal innovations than by plot or character development. Cela's acute powers of observation and skill in colourful description are apparent in his travel books, based upon walking trips through rural Spain and his visits to Latin-American countries. He was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 1989 "for a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's vulnerability".