Clarice Lispector (Chechelnik, Ukraine, 1920 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1977) was a Brazilian author of Ukrainian-Jewish descent. Although highly regarded for her novels, she has garnered most attention for her short stories, almost all of which experiment with form and language. She has published nine novels, eighty-five short stories, five books for children, and countless letters and newspaper columns, placing her at the very top of the most prominent Brazilian writers of her generation. Numerous books have been published about her life and work, and she is a frequent subject in Brazilian literature and music. Several of her works have been adapted into films, and the biography by American Pulitzer Prize-winning author Benjamin Moser, What's in This World for ?, is a unique and passionate portrait of this extraordinary Latin American writer.

Photo: Clarice Lispector in 1955 Washington, Miller Courtesy of Paulo Gurgel Valente.