Jorge Amado (1912–2001) was born in the state of Bahia, Brazil, whose society he portrays in such acclaimed novels as Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon, and Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands.
Gregory Rabassa (translator; 1922–2016) was a National Book Award–winning translator whose English-language versions of works by Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Julio Cortázar, and Jorge Amado have become classics in their own right.
José Saramago (foreword; 1922–2010) was a Nobel Prize–winning Portuguese writer. His many novels include All the Names and Blindness.