Salvador Novo (1904-1974) was born and died in Mexico City, where he was a provocative and prolific cultural presence. The author of numerous collections of poems, Novo was also one of the finest, most original prose stylists of his generation--he wrote everything from essays to opera librettos.
He is important not only for his own work, but for his influence on and support of others: with his friend Xavier Villaurrutia, he co-founded Ulises and Contemporáneos, landmark avant-garde journals of the late 1920s and 1930s. Most surprisingly, Novo, Mexico's first openly homosexual intellectual, held high posts at the Ministries of Culture and Public Education, where he wrote volumes about Mexican history, politics, literature, and culture.
