Carlos Luis Fallas

Carlos Luis Fallas was born into poverty in Alajuela on January 21, 1909. Leaving school at age sixteen, he worked as a laborer on the Caribbean banana plantations of the United Fruit Company, enduring malaria, wage theft, and grueling physical hardship.

Channeling his experiences into labor organizing, Fallas led the historic Great Banana Strike of 1934 that mobilized over 10,000 workers. In 1941, he published Mamita Yunai, followed by the autobiographical masterpiece Marcos Ramírez. His gritty, honest prose won worldwide acclaim and the William Faulkner Prize in 1962.