The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Villaurrutia, Xavier
(häv´r v´´yär´tyä) (KEY) , 1903–50, Mexican poet and playwright. Villaurrutia was deeply influenced by Ramón López Velarde. He worked on the Mexican literary review Contemporáneos (1928–31) and in 1928 founded the first experimental theater in Mexico. His poetic writing includes Reflejos (1926) and Nocturnos (1933). Villaurrutia’s intense preoccupation with death permeates the poems in Nostalgia de la muerte (1938) and Décima muerte [tenth death] (1941); it is also the subject of his play Invitación a la muerte (1941). His most notable theatrical works are the short dramatic pieces, Autos profanos, included in Poesía y teatro completos (1953). Villaurrutia greatly influenced the work of younger Mexican poets, notably Alí Chumacero.
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