Latorre, Mariano

Born Jan. 4, 1886, in Cobquecura; died Nov. 12, 1955, in Santiago. Chilean writer.

Latorre inspired the literary school called Creolism, which devoted much attention to national problems and the life of the broad masses and was predominantly realistic. His short-story collections include Stories of the Maule (1912), Condor Cradle (1918), Ully and Other Stories (1923), Chileans From the Seashore (1929), People of Selva (1933), Mapu (1942), Wind From the Meadows (1944), Chile—A Country of Borders (1947), and Bird Island (1955). In the stories and in the novel Zurzulita (1920), Latorre created truthful pictures of Chilean life but did not rise to broad social generalizations. The novel Paquerra (published posthumously, 1958) turned to urban problems. Latorre also wrote “The Literature of Chile” (1941) and other works about Latin American literature. He won the national literature prize of Chile in 1944.