Milton Hatoum

Milton Hatoum (born August 19, 1952) is a Brazilian writer, translator and professor. Hatoum is one of Brazil's most eminent contemporary writers. Among other honors, Hatoum was awarded Brazil's most prestigious literary award, the Jabuti Prize, three times for best novel. In 2017, he received the title of Officier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government.

Born in Manaus of Lebanese descent, he studied comparative literature in Paris, and has served as professor of literature in universities such as the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM) and at the University of California, Berkeley.

His first novel, Relato de um Certo Oriente ("Tale of a Certain Orient"), won the Jabuti Prize in 1989. His second novel, Dois Irmãos ("Two Brothers"), won another Jabuti in 2000 and was translated into twelve languages and adapted for television, theater and comics. His third novel Cinzas do Norte ("Ashes of the Amazon") won the Jabuti in 2005, as well as the Portugal Telecom Prize for Literature, Bravo! and APCA awards. In 2008, his novel Órfãos do Eldorado, was adapted for the cinema.

Over 200,000 copies of his books have been sold in Brazil, and they have been translated in several languages including Italian, English, French, Spanish, Danish, Czech, and Arabic.

Hatoum writes about destructured families in his works, with a political tendency. In two of his books, Dois Irmãos and Cinzas do Norte, Milton Hatoum made a subtle criticism of the Brazilian military regime of 1964–1985.