Their lives changed dramatically when their parents decided to take a trip to Europe in 1914; the outbreak of World War I led to a prolonged residence in Geneva, where Borges studied at the College Calvin (learning French, German, and Latin), his last period of formal education. When the war ended the family moved to Mallorca, Spain; Borges then went on to spend an important year in Madrid before the family returned to Buenos Aires in 1921. By then he had clearly chosen to be a writer.
Though best known in the English-speaking world for his short stories, Borges began his career as a poet, published dozens of books of poetry, and wrote extensively about poetry (as well as collaborating in editing various anthologies of poetry). The three volumes published by Viking in honor of the Borges centenary, Collected Fictions (1998), Selected Non-Fictions (1999), and Selected Poems (1999), are striking in this regard--only a small portion of Borges's book reviews and literary essays are included, and a tinier proportion still of his poetry.
This is a free page. This page contains 171 words. This
biography contains 8,990 words (approx. 30 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Biography with our Jorge Luis Borges Access Pass.
